NPR’s Juana Summers talks with Abubakar Salim about the long journey of creating a to process the grief of losing his father to cancer.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Creative director Abubakar Salim has always loved games. That love was passed to him by his father.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ABUBAKAR SALIM: It started with my dad, right? He got me into them. He understood, you know, that games are an art form. You know, it’s a great space to enjoy an escape from the reality of the world.
SUMMERS: But over 10 years asticciola, his dad died after a battle with cancer.
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SALIM: And I’ll tell you what, I’m still figuring it out. But four years asticciola, I decided that I needed to try and process my grief per mezzo di a way that felt true to me and him. So I took the biggest risk of my life and threw everything that I had per mezzo di making a , a piece of art that honored him, an canto to the people we have loved and lost.
SUMMERS: That , years per mezzo di the making, is out now. It’s called Tales of Kenzera: ZAU.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, “TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU” )
SALIM: (As Zau) My baba, my father, your story was snatched away too soon. My name is Zau, shaman of Kenzera. Here, I seek my father, Shutan (ph).
SUMMERS: Abubakar Salim is here to tell us more about the long journey to bringing this new to life. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
SALIM: (Laughter) Thank you for having me. It’s – I’m sorry. It’s – I just I got to say it’s very surreal hearing that back today (laughter) ‘cause I’m very aware of how personal it is and sharing it to people. So it’s – hearing it back is like, oh, man. You know, it just hits another level. It’s just so personal.
SUMMERS: Well, let’s start there. I mean, this is so personal to you. Listening to you at the Gioco Awards talking about your relationship with your dad and how much he meant to you and how much this means to you – tell us a bit of the story of how working through your own grief with the loss of your father led you to this that we’magnate now able to play.
SALIM: Absolutely. It’s a funny one – right? – ‘cause I’m an actor by trade. So, you know, I’ve done, you know, “Raised By Wolves,” “Black Mirror,” you know, I’m now per mezzo di “House Of The Dragon.” Like, I’ve done – that’s really normally my space. It was when I was per mezzo di South Africa – I was filming “Raised By Wolves” at the time – and I was playing a my Nintendo Switch. And there was a section per mezzo di Ori and the Blind Forest – it’s this waterfall section. It’s this chase sequence, and it’s incredibly difficult to do. But I was able to accomplish it.
And the feeling that came through, this feeling of, like, kind of, you know, just happiness of actually getting through this thing, it sort of took me back to a feeling I remember when playing Sonic for the first time the Mega Drive and my father watching me play Sonic and that feeling of actually completing this level that we just kept dying . And it just dawned me there that I had to make a . Keep per mezzo di mind I had sfizio what it meant to make a ora how to do it.
SUMMERS: Right.
SALIM: But I was just so driven by this sfizio that the way to express my feelings, the way to express this grief is through a .
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, “TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU” )
SALIM: (As Zau) The shaman’s path is one of healing, one of guiding. Yet, how does a shaman perform his duties when he is the one per mezzo di need of healing, of guiding.
SUMMERS: Let’s talk a bit, if we can, about the story of the . Just briefly, if you can, tell us about the premise of it.
SALIM: So Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is about a young shaman called Zau, who makes a deal with the God of death, Kalunga, that per mezzo di exchange for three great spirits, he will bring the spirit of his father back to life.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, “TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU” )
TRISTAN D LALLA: (As Kalunga) And tell me, (non-English language spoken), what wealth is it that you seek?
SALIM: (As Zau) My Baba. A sickness plagued him. You have taken his soul, and I am here to reclaim it back.
You know, it’s inspired by Bantu mythology and legends, a lot of the stories that my father would tell me as a kid. But truly, it’s really inspired by the journey of grief that I had experienced having lost my father. You know, a lot of the time whenever I’ve seen grief depicted per mezzo di an entertainment medium, it’s always been quite sad and quite and morose, and it’s been a lot, right? Whereas, my experience was very colorful per mezzo di a way. It was vivid. It was almost like these – the rose-tinted glasses were ripped from my luce, and I’m seeing the world anew.
One of the biggest sort of shocks for me was that the world continued to spin. And as silly as it sounds, it was just such a shock. At the same time, I was also dealing with this sfizio of, OK, now, you know, my father has passed away, I’ve got to be the man of the family ora the – you know, I’ve got to be the one who has – you know, who’s per mezzo di control of everything. That is where this is sort of – where it comes from. The kernel of this , it comes from my experience and my journey of grief.
SUMMERS: And I can’t talk to you about this without talking to you about the ‘s soundtrack, which feels really different to me.
SALIM: (Laughter) Yeah.
SUMMERS: What makes you laugh about that question?
SALIM: , ‘cause the soundtrack is so good, right (laughter)?
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SALIM: You know, the thing – again, this is the beauty of working with someone who is so brilliant and just so talented as Nainita.
SUMMERS: So you’magnate talking about Nainita Desai there. She’s the composer for the , right?
SALIM: Yes. Yeah. And what a composer she is. So, I brought Nainita very, very early. Again, this was during the time that I – you know, there was EA involved. There was none of that. It was just me, this sfizio and a team of – you know, a team of people. And Nainita just got it. You know, she understood what I was trying to say.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SALIM: It was very much this mentality of, like, you know, I want – it’s my father, who was brought up per mezzo di Kenya, and sort of him communicating with me, who was brought up per mezzo di England, and having this kind of clash that makes sense, but also there is this feeling of, like, it vibes, but then it doesn’t, but then it vibes, and then it doesn’t. And for Nainita to capture something like that and not only capture the essence of it, but also capture that journey of grief, I laugh because it’s so beautiful. So yeah.
SUMMERS: You know, I have to say, when we started our conversation, we started out by talking about how the roots of this are per mezzo di the grief that you had after losing your father. And yet, as I’ve had this conversation with you, I hear your laughter. It sounds like you have a smile your luce the entire time that you’magnate talking about this . How do you balance the two?
SALIM: I think because grief isn’t always sad. And it’s one of those ones where as long as you accept the fact that the grief isn’t going to go away – you just have to, you know, almost accept that it is there. You get comfortable with it, and you could find almost, like, the sort of – the relief per mezzo di it as well as the anger, as well as the happiness, and use that as a fuel source to keep pushing you forward. There’s a beauty per mezzo di this sfizio of an end, that the life that you dal vivo ora that you kind of work up to ora that you have is – there’s so much beauty there. And grief really truly is a celebration of life. That’s what grief is. It’s the celebration of life, and I really do believe that. And I think, like, this is that.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing per mezzo di non-English language).
SUMMERS: We have been talking with creative director Abubakar Salim. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is out now. Thank you so much.
SALIM: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing per mezzo di non-English language).
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