Nigeria’s prolific filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan has said that his latest thriller, The CEO, was shot with the global audience in mind.
Afolayan disclosed this recently at the special screening of the
movie to a select audience of sponsors, media, partners and friends at the Silverbird
Cinemas, Ikeja City Mall, Alausa, Lagos. He described The CEO as an
experiment to develop value for Africa cinema.
“It became a concern as I have not seen any film from
neighbouring African countries brought to Nigeria for screening; hence there is
a gap between pan-African countries. The CEO is an experiment that I
hope will do the magic. The original cast was Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and one
Francophone cast. But after my trip to Egypt, it became an eye opener after
meeting with colleagues, where we had a co-production meeting,” he said.
Afolayan added that The
CEO is an exciting project, a truly pan-African film that boasts a stellar
cast drawn from all across Africa.
“The movie will change the course of filmmaking in Africa,
whilst undoubtedly and truly putting Africa on the global cinematic map,” he
added.
 |
| Afolayan with guests at the media screening of The CEO |
Set on a beautiful beach resort on the outskirts of Lagos,
Nigeria, The CEO follows five top executives from across
Africa who are dispatched on a one-week leadership retreat by a multinational
telecommunications firm to determine who gets selected as the new CEO. Things
go awry when one by one the executives are eliminated in sudden death
circumstances, with the finger pointing to the last two remaining executive as
prime suspects.
The blockbuster boasts an ensemble cast drawn from across Africa
including Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and entertainer Benin
Republic, Angélique Kidjo; Haitian actor and model Jimmy Jean-Louis; Nigerian
actor Wale Ojo; French-Ivorian actress and model, Aurelie Eliam; South African
actor and presenter, Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos; Nigerian actress, Kemi Lala
Akindoju; Moroccan star, Fatim Layachi; Kenyan actor Peter King, Nigerian
actress, Hilda Dokubo as well as Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold and Moroccan
artiste, Ahmed Soultan who made cameo appearances in the film.
Afolayan disclosed that apart from Nigeria where the cinema is
expanding, he is also targeting a huge market for the film in other African
countries and other parts of the world.
“Take for example, South Africa which has close to 500 cinemas;
if my films could screen in 200 South African cinemas, it would be great, as
this is what cinema distribution can do to the success of a filmmaker. If we
can lock down Africa, then we do not need Hollywood,” he said.
The CEO is coming on the heels of October 1, his psychological
thriller and his fourth effort after Irapada,
Figurine and Phone Swap.
After a 45-minute screening of the new movie,
testimonies abound of another blockbuster to have come out of Nigeria. With
so much expectation for every work by the filmmaker, fans, friends, sponsors
also stormed the press screening of the movie– cheering every moment as the
tape rolled.
Speaking at the screening, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Director, M-Net
West Africa, said: “The CEO promises to be unlike anything we have ever seen
from Africa. We are familiar with the stellar work that Kunle Afolayan does
with his Golden Effects Company and were therefore more than excited to jump on
board The CEO project right from its inception. This partnership is
in furtherance of our continued drive to support Nigerian and African cinema by
investing in people, ideas and talent, and we can’t wait for fans and lovers of
good cinema to watch this movie.”
 |
| Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu speaking at the screening |
The CEO will be exclusively
screened on 1 June before a select audience on board an Air France flight from
Lagos to Paris, in a first of its kind, in-flight premiere.
Speaking on the first-of-its-kind premiere, Arthur
Dieffenthaler, Commercial Manager, Air France/KLM noted that there had never
been an in-flight premiere of such, even in Hollywood or Bollywood. The
initiative, according to him represents some of the big ideas that Air
France/KLM and Afolayan’s Golden Effects Company stand for. He disclosed
that this is the first time a Nigerian film will be shot at the Charles De
Gaulle Airport, Paris, France, expressing optimism that the partnership will go
on for a long time.
Some of the top dignitaries expected as part of the in-flight
premiere are the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Lagos
State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, Commercial Manager, Air France/KLM Arthur
Dieffenthaler and Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed
Olagunju. Others include
officials of DStv, Peugeot Automobile, Adron Homes and Properties, Inagbe Grand
Resorts and Leisure as well as several notable filmmakers and actors in
Nollywood.
Cote d’Ivoire cinema is yearning for a July 2016 release and has
sent their terms, coming from the country’s popular distributors, Majestic
Cinemas.
Afolayan revealed that the film will be distributed in Nigeria
by Silverbird Cinema, adding that preparations are on ground for massive
festival routing. Other schedules for The
CEO include a Lagos Premiere
scheduled for 10 July, to be followed by Cinema Release on 15 July.
Prior to the cinema release, Afolayan said Private Screenings
are opened to corporate organizations who desire some refresher for their
staff.
-Funsho Arogundade
The original story was published by P.M.EXPRESS
No comments:
Post a Comment