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| Afolayan (left) at the media briefing |
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.
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.”
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
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