As the world celebrates International Women’s day today, BusinessDay takes a look at six women that are rocking the Nigerian movie industry as directors.
Here are the lists below.
Mo Abudu
Mo Abudu is a Nigerian filmmaker and CEO of EbonyLife Group, she is known for producing and co-producing the highest-grossing Nigerian films for years.
Over the years, EbonylifeTV has struck major partnership deals with Sony Pictures Television, AMC Networks, and Netflix. In 2016 she produced ‘The Wedding Party’ which became one of the highest-grossing movies in the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood). She is also the writer and producer of The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, Blood Sisters, and Going for Broke, among others.
In 2013, Abudu was listed by Hollywood Reporter as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV. Again, in 2013, Forbes Africa recognisNigerianed Abudu as the first African woman to own a Pan-Africa TV channel.
The company’s first Nigerian Netflix original series, ‘Blood Sister’, racked up 11 million global viewing hours in its first week of launch.
Mo Abudu is constantly and consistently innovating and redefining African cinema, and pushing bold and audacious narratives and unique stories.
Kemi Adetiba
Kemi Adetiba is a Nigerian filmmaker, television director and music video director, founder, and CEO of Kemi Adetiba visuals whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Sound City TV, BET, and Netflix.
Her short film ‘Across a Bloodied Ocean’ was screened at the 2009 Pan African Film Festival and National Black Arts Festival.
Kemi Adetiba is known for King of Boys (2018), King of Boys: The Return of the King (2021), and The Wedding Party (2016).
On September 8, 2016, Kemi Adetiba’s first feature film as director, ‘The Wedding Party’ premiered, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), as the opening film of the City-to-City Spotlight.
In 2018 Kemi Adetiba released her most famous work of art ‘King of Boys’ starring veteran actress Sola Sobowale in the lead role which was listed as one of the top 10 movies of 2018
Tope Oshin
Tope Oshin is a film director, producer and casting director, listed as one of the most influential Nigerians in film in 2019.
In 2015 Pulse magazine named her as one of “9 Nigerian female movie directors you should know” in the Nollywood film industry.[3] and in March 2018, in commemoration of Women’s History Month, Tope was celebrated by OkayAfrica as one of the Okay100 Women.
Tope Oshin is a severely awarded filmmaker who has directed over 7,000 hours of TV & film content. These consist of up to 750 episodes of some of Africa’s biggest drama series like MTV Shuga, Tinsel, Hotel Majestic, Hush, Castle & Castle, etc.
Mildred Okwo
Mildred Okwo is a Nigerian film director and producer. She was nominated for the Best Director award at the 4th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
In 2012 she directed the romance comedy-drama film The Meeting which won several awards including Nigeria Entertainment Awards, Africa Movie Academy Awards, and Nollywood Movies Awards.
In 2016, Okwo was named one of the “50 Women Shaping Africa” by the influential international women’s magazine Elle Magazine and 100 Most influential people in Nigeria.
She is a founding member of the Nigerian Oscar Selection committee and was recently featured in a BBC documentary about female Film Directors in Nigeria.
Jade Osiberu
Jadesola Osiberu is a Nigerian writer, director and producer and founder of Greoh Studios. She is known for Isoken (2017), Sugar Rush (2019), Brotherhood (2022) and Gangs of Lagos, the first Nigerian original film to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
In 2017, Osiberu wrote and directed Isoken, a film about the challenges faced by an unmarried working class woman amidst pressure from family, as well as romantic interracial relationships in a modern Nigerian setting.
Read also: Seven things to watch out for in Nollywood
For her directorial role, she won best director at 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards and got a Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Director nomination.
In September 2022, Osiberu’s Greoh Studios signed a three-year deal with Amazon to develop and produce original scripted TV series and feature films.
Funke Akindele
Funke Akindele is a Nigerian filmmaker, director, actress, politician, and producer. She became the first Nigerian filmmaker to gross over N500 million twice at the local box office with the movie ‘Battle On Buka Street’ and ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’.
In July 2019, Akindele started a new web series, Aiyetoro Town, a spinoff from her popular TV series, Jenifa’s Diary. She made her directorial debut also in 2019 political drama film, ‘Your Excellency’. She currently runs a Non-governmental organization known as the Jenifa Foundation, which aims at providing young people with vocational skills.
The actress has won a lot of awards including the Best Actress Leading role at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009, the Best Actress award at the 2009 and Best Actress (Indigenous) at the 2013 Nollywood Movies Awards for her role in Maami.
She also won Best Actress (comedy) at the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, Best Actress in a comedy role at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, and Best TV series at the 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for her work, Jenifa’s Diary.
