The first half of the year has seen a great wealth of Nollywood classics as both a year ago releases and old productions score a streaming placement on Netflix. The influx of Nollywood titles on the platform has admirably ballooned global attention for African cinemas. Big deals are dropping for film executives and in effect drawing international audience to the brilliant performances of African actors.
With the curtain widely opened for Mo Abudu to develop multi-title original African content for the platform and the coming up of an unnamed series, which stars Kate Henshaw from the legit filmmaker Akin Omotosha, we are keeping ourselves busy on the platform with ten of outstanding Nollywood features released on the streaming platform in the course of the first half of the year.
4th Republic
The political space of Nigeria has been a major focus in most Nollywood productions. For the title ‘4th Republic’, Kate Henshaw brings her fierceness on the big screen as she plays Mabel King, an aspiring governor who challenges the election, which she believes was rigged in favour of her opponent and incumbent government. The legal battle, threats and deaths recorded in the ‘4th Republic’ provides a surface look on how politics affects the judgement of both aspirants and voters.
Elevator Baby
Akhigbe Ilozobhie’s drama film ‘Elevator Baby’ brings to the big screen the striking clash between the rich but arrogant young Dare (Timini Egbuson) and the semi-literate pregnant Abigail ( Toyin Abraham), both stuck in a faulty elevator. After a series of insults thrown each other, Abigail goes into labour and is now at the mercy of Dare to deliver her yet-to-be born baby.
She Is
Under pressure from her family and friends to settle down, Frances (Somkele Iyamah) a successful and independent woman is diagnosed of having fibroid which affects her chances of conceiving. Strong-headed and resilient to the faced situation, Frances is determined to find the right partner to settle down with and have a baby of her own regardless of what the medical results say.
The Royal Hibiscus Hotel
Storied around comedy and romance, Kenneth Okolie and Zainab Balogun face off in ‘The Royal Hibiscus Hotel’ production which has Ope (Zainab) fall in love with Deji (Kenneth). Ope returns to Nigeria with the sole intent of reviving her family’s hotel business, but in the long falls deeply in love with Deji, the young handsome investor who is in to buy the property from her family.
Light in the Dark
A married couple’s life of happiness and hope into the future is shuttered by a one-night event, which ended in the rape of Jumoke (Rita Dominic). The trust and security that engulfed the marriage in the beginning is realized no more as things begin to fall into pieces between Jumoke and her husband Emeka (Kalu Ikeagwu).
Last Flight to Abuja
Based on the real-life situation that happened in the Aviation industry of Nigeria in 2006, Obi Emelonye gathers the unstoppable class of actors Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Jim Iyke among others to narrate the fate of passengers that board the faulty commercial plane. Prior to the emergency landing of the plane, all passengers in a flashback recall the events that led to them boarding the plane in the first place.
The Delivery Boy
An alliance between a teen criminal Amir (Jamal Ibrahim) and the young sex worker Nkem (Jemima Osunde) reveals painful past situations and circumstances that brought them together in fighting for a better tomorrow. The two formed Nollywood best friends, Jemima and Jamal on and off the screens surely delivered a masterpiece in this Adekunle Nodash Adejuyigbe directed film.
Living in Bondage: Breaking Free
Very little of Nollywood’s back in the day money making horror pieces are told in recent times. ‘Living in Bondage: Breaking Free’ tests the big screen of such horror classics with a sequel of the 1992/93 two-part film ‘Living in Bondage’. The film ranks 11th on the chart board of overall highest-grossing Nigerian films of all time.
Anchor Baby
To truly appreciate the reason why Omoni Oboli is tagged as one of the best actresses Africa has in store, ‘Anchor Baby’ is the right title to look at. Telling the story of a Nigerian couple living in the U.S. who are faced with the threat of deportation. Despite the dangers of their stay as immigrants, they prove stubborn to the harsh condition and hope to deliver their unborn child to become a citizen of the United States.
