“There’s never been a greater time for us, where you have so many Nigerian stories being shown to the whole world!”
– Kunle Afolayan, Nigeria’s leading director and producer.
It’s been five years since Netflix launched in Nigeria. That decision has played a role in helping boost the profile of the local film industry, as the streaming platform has helped develop a new audience while adding a wide variety of Nollywood films and series, and building strong relationships with local creators like Kunle Afolayan. Building on the success of the likes of The CEO, October 1, The Figurine, and, most recently, Citation, Afolayan has taken advantage of the increased exposure to shine a light on Nigerian culture and history.
In that vein, the execution of a new partnership with Afolayan to produce and premiere three new diverse films: a historical drama, a folklore fantasy, and a character drama will help burnish this legacy. All three will be set in Nigeria, the first of which will be an adaptation of Nigerian-American novelist, short-story writer, playwright and screenwriter, Seffi Atta’s third novel, Swallow about a naive secretary whom, after a series of career woes, considers her roommate’s offer to work as a drug mule in mid-1980s Lagos. Netflix’s Director of Content in Africa, Ben Amadasun, recently caught up with Afolayan to get a deeper layer of insight.
Watch the video here