Nigerian production and distribution company, FilmOne has begun its first movie production on the one million dollar film fund it launched with China’s Huahua Media and South Africa’s Empire Entertainment.
Last year FilmOne announced that its partnership with Nigeria’s Corporate World Entertainment and Huahua on the first co-production between the two countries.
The film to herald the partnership is ‘30 Days in China’, the latest installment of the hit comedy franchise starring Nigerian actor-comedian Ayo Makun, popularly known as A.Y.
The co-founder of FilmOne Moses Babatope speaking with international film website, Variety revealed that ‘Kambili’, by director Kayode Kasum, will be the first of an expected slate of eight-10 films that the fund will co-finance.
“The global appetite for Nigerian content is growing,” Babatope told Variety. He added that FilmOne is currently developing two high-end projects that he considers it’s most ambitious yet.
The projects are ‘Greenland, about a young soccer player who follows the treacherous human trafficking route to reach Europe; and ‘Darling Biliqis’, a romantic drama based on a myth about the Biblical queen of Sheba.
Babatope believes both films will have broad international appeal and could hit the festival circuit in 2021.
He added, “We believe that we are going to have an Oscar contender.”
