Kunle Afolayan has extended his Netflix partnership.
The Nollywood filmmaker, whose exuberant works congregate larger audience will produce three films, all centred in Nigeria, for the streaming platform.
The three new films from Afolayan will capture a historical drama, a folklore fantasy and a character drama. Already licensed to begin pre-production is an adaptation of Sefi Atta’s third novel ‘Swallow’, which details a naïve secretary whom, after a series of career woes, considers her roommate’s offer to work as a drug mule in mid-1980s Lagos.
“There’s never been a greater time for us, where you have so many Nigerian stories being shown to the whole world,” said Afolayan.
“We believe great stories can come from anywhere and be loved everywhere. Nigeria has a prolific film industry, and it makes sense that when we’re growing within Africa, Nigeria is one of the focus markets,” added Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s director of Content for Africa.
Currently on Netflix, Afolayan shelves three of his best works ‘The Figurine’, ‘The CEO’ and ‘October 1’ as well as ‘Citation’, which was purchased by the streaming service in an exclusive first look deal last year.
Locally, Afolayan counts as one of the biggest film directors in the industry with his catalogue of film works winning multiple awards on big stages. At the 2010 Africa Movie Academy Awards, ‘The Figurine’ bagged five undisputed wins including best film Africa and best film Nigeria.
He is the CEO of Golden Effects Pictures, the production outfit behind his high-quality features.
