On 1st October 2022, an esteemed gentleman came to our attention. On twitter, @Fortis_Owo said the following.
“So Kunle Afolayan bought Acres of land in Ibadan and built a place where he will shoot his ancient setting movies like Anikulapo.
Our own Tyler Perry”
With Tyler Perry wowing the world with his huge studio and accomplishments, we had to look up Kunle Afolayan and we were very happy with what we discovered.
Afolayan is the CEO of Golden Effects Pictures, a Nigerian film and production company incorporated in 2005. Ambassador Audu Kadiri, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva said, “the acclaimed producer came to limelight as a film producer in Nigeria when he founded the Golden Effect Pictures Limited, a film production company that produces and releases high-quality films.”
The company’s feature films include Irapada, The Figurine, Phone Swap, October 1, Roti, Omugwo, The Tribunal, The CEO and Mokalik.
The filmmaker struck a deal with Netflix in 2021 to make three feature films, including a screen adaptation of Sefi Atta’s book Swallow. He and the writer penned the script which reportedly has a major twist from the original story. The movie revolves around a woman who begins to consider going into drug trafficking in mid-’80s Lagos.
Acclaimed Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan is busy making movies that will premiere on Netflix, and he has recently shared details of the projects.
Afolayan has made his mark on the movie industry, contributing to the resurgence of the Nigerian cinema culture with his 2009 film The Figurine.
Since then, the award-winning director has helmed other movies, catching the attention of Netflix, with the films now made available on the streaming platform for subscribers.
In a video posted on YouTube on in March, 2021, Kunle Afolayan chatted with Netflix’s director of content for Africa, Ben Amadasun, and revealed some of the forthcoming projects he is making for the streaming giant.
First off is Swallow, an adaptation of the book of the same name by the Nigerian-American writer Sefi Atta. It is the story of an inexperienced secretary who considers going into drug trafficking after her career begins to go south.
The second is a folklore/fantasy and the last one deals with the issue of dementia (with the spiritual element infused into it).
Afolayan said, “These are three different genres, and I’m really excited, you know, about this. Because I know people are gonna have a swell time.”
“And the fact that it’s also coming, you know, it’s exclusive to Netflix globally, …this is such a great time.”
Afolayan is of Igbomina-Yoruba descent, from Kwara State. He is the son of the theatre and film director Ade Love. He majored in economics and started out working in a bank while doing some casual acting, before deciding to move into full-time filmmaking and taking a course at the New York Film Academy. Since 2005 he has been active in the Nigerian film industry. He has made several films including: The Figurine: Araromire which was in the Yoruba and English languages and Phone Swap which featured Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Nse Ikpe Etim and Chika Okpala. The Figurine won five major awards in the African Film Academy and was successful in Nigerian movie theaters.
Afolayan appeared at the Subversive Film Festival in 2011 where he represented the Nigerian film industry with his colleague Zeb Ejiro. In May 2013, Phone Swap premiered in France at the first edition of NollywoodWeek Paris and won the Public Choice Award.
