We’re eight months into 2023 and Nollywood has already delivered some audacious offerings that have given us bragging rights and reasons to re-stan the industry. However, with a few months left to wrap up the year, some of our favourite female producers are still cooking, and we can’t wait to be served.
Funke Akindele – A Tribe Called Judah
The queen of Nollywood box office has been lowkey in the past few months, but we’ve gleaned what she’s been up to from her recent social media posts.
After a hugely successful run for the comedy, Battle on Buka Street, Funke is set to make a grand return to the big screens with her 2023 offering: A Tribe Called Judah. So far, we know Funke is taking the director’s chair alongside Captain Degzy (The Griot). Principal photography wrapped up over the weekend but Funke Akindele’s IG post suggests that additional scenes will be shot outside the country. No major cast announcement has been made, but there are reports that Nse Nkpe Etim, Timini Egbuson, Genoveva Umeh, Boma Akpore, Olumide Oworu and Funke Akindele will appear in the film.
Kemi Adetiba – To Kill A Monkey
After a noticeable lull, The Bruce Lee of Visuals, AKA Kemi Adetiba is making a grand return. The last we heard of her in the cinemaverse was in the 2021 King of Boys: The Return of The King; a sequel to the 2018 political thriller, King of Boys. The Nollywood filmmaker is set to reclaim her spot as a leading woman in cinema with her 2023 offering To Kill A Monkey. Principal photography commenced on Monday, August 8, and in an Instagram post, Adetiba wrote: “This is the biggest and CRAZIEST thing I’ve ever done and I’m nervous AF.”
Casting details have been sketchy but we’ve spotted Buchi Franklin (Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story) and Emeka Okoye (Jenifa’s Diary) in BTS stills. Adetiba’s TKAM will also be heading straight to Netflix. We’re sat.
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Bola Austen Peters – Funmilayo: The Lioness of Lisabi
With her last outing, Man Of God, scoring her an AMVCA Best Movie Director nod, Bolanle Austen-Peters is poised to make an even bigger return after securing the rights to produce a Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti biopic titled “Funmilayo: The Lioness of Lisabi,”.
Filming commenced and wrapped in 2022 and a private screening with the Kuti clan went down in March 2023. But there have been no words about an official release date. So far, we know that the iconic Joke Silva and Kehinde Bankole play Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti in different parts of her life. Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti and Made Kuti also make appearances in the film.
Genevieve Nnaji: I Do Not Come To You By Chance
Source: Tiff
The last we saw of our iconic queen was her directorial debut on Lionheart, Nowshe’s coming back to put on the executive producer cap on the adaptation of Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani‘s award-winning 2009 novel I Do Not Come to You by Chance.
The Nollywood actress will collaborate with Ishayo Bako (Road To Yesterday) who joins the project as director. So far, the cast includes Blossom Chukwujekwu, Jennifer Eliogu, Sambasa Nberibe, and Beverly Osu.
I Do Not Come to You by Chance will screen at the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) alongside other African titles.