It was a night of glitz and glamor as Nigeria‘s movie industry stars, known as Nollywood, strutted the red carpet on Wednesday at the launch of Netflix’s first Nigerian Original series, Blood Sisters.The theme of the premiere was ‘Red and Fugitive’ and Nollywood stars turned out in style to launch the series created by leading Nigerian production company EbonyLife Studios.Blood Sisters features Nollywood veteran stars such as Kate Henshaw, Uche Jombo, Ramsey Nouah, Segun Arinze and Joke Silva.
It also stars newcomers Nancy Isime and Ini Dima-Okojie who play friends in the crime thriller which spotlights “two friends, a dark secret, and an unforgiving family,” according to Netflix.
Amazon’s going to Nollywood — and its deals with studios could shake up one of the world’s most prolific filmmaking hubsNigeria’s Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed was also at the premiere and lauded the launch as evidence of the growth of Nigeria’s creative industry.”It’s not easy to put your movie, talk less of a series on Netflix…this is one of the clear indications that our creative industry is going places,” the minister said at the premiere.
Inside Mo Abudu’s self-made empire 01:46EbonyLife Studios founder Mo Abudu said the series was filmed during the pandemic in Lagos, a process Abudu describes as a “unique and intense experience.”
Abudu’s other productions with Netflix include the movie “Òlòturé,” which was released to global acclaim and an adaptation of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman.”Nigeria’s film industry has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry and has gained global acclaim.Other streaming platforms also have Nigeria’s movie market in their sights.US streaming service Amazon Prime Video recently secured licensing deals with Nigerian filmmakers Inkblot Productions and Anthill Studios, in a move that would see Nigerian movies stream on the Amazon platform.
Amazon has commissioned Original series and films with Nigerian and other African partners, the company told CNN.Nigeria is regarded as Africa’s most prolific filmmaking hub. Thousands of movies are produced in Nigeria every year, according to the country’s statistics office.