King of boys, The Wedding Party, Lionheart, meet the 3 most outstanding Female Directors in Nollywood
The Nigerian film Industry popularly called Nollywood is fast rising and world class competitive, as outstanding and award-winning Female Directors are emerging. With different ideologies. One does not need to go too far to spot the following three in the movie industry. GENEVIEVE NNAJI, MO ABUDU AND KEMI ADETIBA.
They are ageless Outstanding and creative at their work. Interestingly, these women have been making impactful contributions to the industry with their movies.
Meanwhile, because of their great contributions we can say these are the three outstanding as far as movie directing and production is concern;
GENEVIEVE NNAJI
Born 3 May 1979, is a Nigerian actor, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award. In 2011, she was honored as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to Nollywood.
Genevieve Nnaji is one of the accomplished Nollywood movie stars with mentions in international media.
The actress has featured in over 200 movies since her career kicked off 20 years ago. She also featured in the film ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ based on Chimamanda Ngozi’s book of the same name about the Nigerian-Biafran War from 1967-70.
In 2015, Nnaji made her debut as a producer when she co-produced ‘Road to yesterday’ which she also featured in.
In 2018, she made her directorial debut with the movie, ‘Lionheart.’ The movie became the first Nollywood movie to be acquired by Netflix before release. It was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and got good reviews.
Nnaji has since signed a management deal with a top US talent management firm and has been working on new grounds to break into Hollywood.
MO ABUDU
Born 11, September 1964 Mosunmola Abudu, usually known as Mo Abudu, is a Nigerian media mogul, media personality, philanthropist, and former human resources management consultant. She has been described by Forbes as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman”
Since Mo Abudu delve into filmmaking, she has turned herself into a reputable auteur and a force on both the big screen and home video.
She has produced top Nollywood blockbusters like ‘The Wedding Party’ franchise, ‘Fifty,’ ‘The Royal Hotel Hibiscus.’ Mo was also responsible for some TV production that includes ‘The Governor,’ ‘Desperate Housewives Africa,’ ‘Sons of the Caliphate,’ and ‘Fifty the Series.’
‘The Wedding Party’ and ‘The Wedding Party: Destination Dubai,’ which grossed hundreds of millions of Naira, are huge success currently ranking as the top two highest grossing Nollywood movies.
In 2017, Abudu was mentioned in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the ‘25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television alongside Angelica Guerra (Latin America), Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner (United Kingdom).
In 2018, Abudu made headlines again with ‘Chief Daddy’ after which she got herself a seat as one of the academy directors for the prestigious Emmys.
KEMI ADETIBA
Born 8, January 1980, Kemi Adetiba is a Nigerian music video director, filmmaker, and television director whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Soundcity TV, BET and Netflix.
Adetiba impressed a niche for herself after she shot series of music videos for top Nigerian musicians that included Olamide and Niyola and the likes.
A graduate of the New York Film Academy, Adetiba has worked as an On-Air Presenter, TV show host before she started shooting music videos.
A filmmaker, and television director whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Soundcity TV, and BET, Kemi Adetiba made her entry into Nollywood when she worked on ‘Wedding Party 1’ for EbonyLife films.
Adetiba was also responsible for some issue-based series and documentaries that include ‘Brotherhood’ and ‘King Women.’
The success of the feature film saw her making her second feature film, ‘King of Boys,’ a political thriller that ruled 2018.
Aside from breaking her own record with ‘The Wedding Party 1,’ Adetiba was listed as a game changer in 2019.
Kemi Adetiba amongst the people is believed to be among those who will shape the country’s economy.
However, Due to their unstinting efforts, both Big screen, Home video and Television series has taken a U-turn to a successful destination as other movie industries of the world are looking up to the ‘almighty’ Nollywood industry