Top 7 moments in Nollywood for 2023

Celebrity Gig

This year, Nollywood has had its very own film festival, the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) sang the praises of interesting movies. Some of the titles that were screened at the festival also recorded standout performances at the likes of Sundance, Cannes, TIFF and so on. And now as the year rolls over, what moments stood out in Nollywood this year?

See below the defining moments of the year:

The film’s submission broke the two-year no-submission deadlock Nigeria has had at the Oscars and the fulfilment of the fight by the former NOSC head, Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi, to have Pidgin English included as a foreign language.

Mami Wata tells the tale of an African mermaid in a village that runs into chaos due to disagreements between villagers and the goddess’ intermediary over the deteriorating state of the village.

Titles in English ranking top on the list of highest-grossing movies isn’t a surprising thing. But indigenous language epics took the spotlight this year.

First on the list is a feature-length film titled Orisa by Odunlade Adekola. Making its debut across cinemas nationwide on July 21, 2023, the movie broke the record of the highest-grossing opening film in Nollywood and the biggest epic opening of the year with ₦27.6 million.

After screening across cinemas nationwide for 14 weeks, Orisa made its exit from the box office with a total gross of ₦127.89 million, becoming the highest-grossing Nollywood title for 2023, so far.

The highly popular downloading website, announced in September 2023, that it would be discontinuing its services. The post online read, “It started as a personal hobby, then grew to a group archive, and then achieved enormous popularity, turning it into a fan favorite. Finally, it is sad for us to say goodbye to movies on Netnaija”.

This record was a new one for the Nigerian film industry but also exciting that it was achieved by a Yoruba epic movie.

  • Orah: produced and directed by Nigerian filmmaker Lonzo Nzekwe, the feature title was one of the selected African films that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it also picked up a huge distribution deal.
  • I Do Not Come To You By Chance: Executively produced by Genevieve Nnaji, the title is a book adaptation of Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani‘s award-winning debut novel of the same name. The project made its world premiere at TIFF 2023.
  • Mo Abudu‘s directorial debut short films Her Perfect Life and Iyawo Mi (My Wife) which premiered on October 6, 2023, featured in several festivals including Oscar-qualifying film festivals this year, Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Rhode Island Film Festival, and the HollyShorts Film Festival.
  • Vote True, a three-minute short film won the prize of the Best Voiceover category at this year’s Cannes World Film Festival.
  • CJ Obasi’s award-winning black and white movie Mami Wata had its world premiere at Sundance in January and also bagged home the World Cinema Dramatic: Special Jury Award for Cinematography.
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The $100 million project sits on a land area of 100 hectares of land and is expected to be a creative hub that provides more opportunities for the youths.

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