Netflix Partners With Kunle Afolayan for Three More Titles [Photos]

Kunle Afolayan will be partnering with Netflix to release three feature films. This announcement was made by Netflix. As reported by Kaphub, Kunle Afolayan’s website,

“It’s been five years since Netflix launched in Nigeria. Since then, we’ve been able to add a wide variety of Nollywood films and series, and build strong relationships with local creators like Kunle Afolayan. It’s been incredibly rewarding to bring his classics like The CEO, October 1, The Figurine and, most recently, Citation, to our members around the world and shine a light on Nigerian culture, history, fashion, music, food and languages through his films.”

“Today, we’re excited to expand on that through a new partnership with Kunle to produce and premiere three new diverse films: a historical drama, a folklore fantasy and a character drama. 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, Sefi 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.”

“The stories are diverse in genre, riveting in storyline and more importantly… uniquely Naija! But no one does these projects justice quite like Kunle. That’s why Netflix’s Director of Content in Africa, Ben Amadasun, recently caught up with Kunle – to get the details straight from the source.”  

Netflix has also released a video on YouTube to detail the projects. The video’s content was a discussion between Kunle Afolayan, the seasoned director of Citation, October 1st, Figurine, and Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s Director of Content, Africa. 

These movies are right down Kunle Afolayan’s alley. Known for the dark world he creates, the mysticism he employs to rationalise their fate, and the gruesome ends he puts his characters through, we can already tell what to expect from these movies. It is great to find Kunle expanding his reach broadly. His strategy with Citation, a love letter to the continent’s filmgoers has finally paid, and Kunle can now begin his journey towards leaving his name amongst the prominent African Filmmakers. 

In Kunle Afolayan’s words, “There has never been a greater time for us, where you have so many Nigerian stories being shown to the whole world!” 

What we do with this attention from the world matters, in fact, more than the attention. And there is no working filmmaker in Nigeria today more deserving of our trust with the duty of exporting Nigerian stories than Kunle Afolayan. 

Gallery below. (Stills from the upcoming book adaptation, Swallow, by Sefi Atta)

All image rights belong to Kunle Afolayan Productions.