Minutes into my hour-long conversation with Chimezie Imo, his attention got split. A man was warmly raving about his performance in BB Sasore’s Breath of Life. For the few minutes this audience-to-actor conversation lasted, I […]
Tola Odunsi’s The Men’s Club: New Gen kicks off with a twist! The hit series follows four friends—Aminu (Pere Egbi replaced Ayoola Ayolola in Season 4), Louis (Baaj Adebule), Lanre (Daniel Etim-Effiong), and Tayo (Efa […]
In 2022, when I attended and wrote about the S16 Film Festival, I closed with this reflection: “Like the closing film of the festival, Nollywood should know that the S16 festival isn’t seeking its Burial […]
Nollywood actor Chuks Joseph might be one of the busiest young actors in Nollywood right now. In addition to starring in Showmax Original Dead of Night, Anthill Studios‘ Criminal, and InkBlot Productions‘ recently released sports-themed […]
The Performance Before the Performance On one of those Saturdays at Freedom Park on Lagos Island, you might find yourself given an impromptu lesson in Nigerian theatre by two or more people unaware of the […]
Chinaza Clara Ezeani’s love affair with acting ignited at a tender age when she was captivated by the on-screen magic of Ini Edo and Jim Iyke in The Cat. Inspired by these actors, she embarked […]
In the critically acclaimed film, With Difficulty Comes Ease, Uzoamaka Aniunoh embodies the role of Zainab, a recently widowed Muslim woman. She is stuck within the confines of her mother-in-law’s home and mandated to complete […]
Philip Asaya, known for his roles in Enakhe (2020-2021), Slum King (2023), and Cake (2022), has delivered one of his most memorable performances to date as a debt-ridden father in Courage Obayuwana’s directorial debut, Kill […]
Meet Ebele Okoye, Nigeria’s first female animator and arguably one of Africa’s first female animators. Born in the late 60s right in the middle of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, Okoye’s life is filled with unique […]
In a bid to document the efforts of the Film Rats Club as an incubator in Nollywood, we are interviewing a member of the club who has recently had a role in a major Nollywood […]
At a 2022 Quramo Festival of Words panel about Nigeria’s emigration wave and its impact on the arts and industry space, I muttered (apparently out loud) about the need for honesty and nuance, which is very often ignored, especially in heated moments. The woman beside me agreed. She introduced herself as a nurse and an actor — an intersection that lingered with me. Later, I asked her to watch my bag for a moment. That was my first meeting with Onyinye Odokoro.
It’s still very much AFRIFF season over here until the last AFRIFF post drops. For this reason, we’re highlighting some of the interviews that filmmakers, actors had with What Kept Me Up, right from the […]
In this era where soundtracks can be so much more than mere background music and a film’s fictional artists can be nominated for MTV’s Video Music Awards, Nollywood’s musical films continue to feature characters who […]
Over time, starting from June or July, I characterised the month of October with The Film Rats’ film festival, The Annual Film Mischief. As the lead media partner of the 2025 edition, What Kept Me […]
When Anjola Oladimeji set out to make her first documentary, she searched for existing films on sickle cell. She found the same handful of titles she had rewatched countless times. Beyond a first-time watch for […]
James Omokwe understands what is at stake when Osamede opens in Nigerian cinemas on October 17. He calls the pressure “yes and no.” Yes, because this is only his second official feature after The Awakening […]
You can feel Wingonia Ikpi’s eagerness and excitement as she talks about The Lost Days, you can tell her eyes light up the way a storyteller’s do when the tale is still alive in her […]
African filmmakers have gone through before. Mati Diop (Atlantics) and Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch) both brought early projects to Locarno’s Open Doors, years before the platform committed to more countries on the […]
At the premiere of Red Circle, veteran rapper Michael ‘Ruggedman’ Ugochukuwu Stephens, also a cast member of the crime thriller, opens up about his early days in Nollywood, revealing that his foray into acting began […]
2023 marked the beginning of a trilogy of epic moments in the African animation industry. It kicked off with Kizazi Moto, a collaboration between Disney and South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation Studio. This was followed in […]
