When Nigerian cinemas reopened in September after a months-long lockdown, Moses Babatope, co-founder of the distributor and production company FilmOne Entertainment, began looking ahead to a busy fall season that could get the local industry back on track.
“We were just beginning to see a recovery,” Babatope says, with “Fate of Alakada” — the third installment in Toyin Abraham’s blockbuster Nollywood franchise, directed by Kayode Kasum — bursting out of the gate after an Oct. 1 Nigerian Independence Day release. A slew of highly anticipated Nigerian titles were to follow. “Local films started driving our recovery. Whereas everybody was concerned about Hollywood films, we started seeing local films driving the return of cinemas,” he adds.
But days later, Nigeria erupted in nationwide protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious police unit with a long record of brutality, eventually leading to wider demonstrations against corruption and police violence. Security forces turned on peaceful protesters,...
“We were just beginning to see a recovery,” Babatope says, with “Fate of Alakada” — the third installment in Toyin Abraham’s blockbuster Nollywood franchise, directed by Kayode Kasum — bursting out of the gate after an Oct. 1 Nigerian Independence Day release. A slew of highly anticipated Nigerian titles were to follow. “Local films started driving our recovery. Whereas everybody was concerned about Hollywood films, we started seeing local films driving the return of cinemas,” he adds.
But days later, Nigeria erupted in nationwide protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious police unit with a long record of brutality, eventually leading to wider demonstrations against corruption and police violence. Security forces turned on peaceful protesters,...
- 11/8/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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