The Figurine premieres on October 2

The world premiere

of Kunle Afolayan’s latest movie, The Figurine, will hold on October 2,

2009, at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, Lekki, Lagos.

Though there will

be an advanced screening of the movie on October 1 to commemorate

Nigeria’s Independence Day anniversary, the film will open

simultaneously on October 2 at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, The Palms,

Lekki; Ozone Cinemas, E-Centre, Yaba and Silverbird Cinemas, Victoria

Island.

The film would also

be premiered in Abuja on October 8, Port Harcourt on October 9 and at

the Odeon Cinemas, London, on October 17.

Sustaining Nollywood

Speaking after a

press screening of the movie on Thursday, September 17, Afolayan added

that The Figurine would also be premiered on soon-to-be-announced dates

in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and the United States.

The filmmaker, who

left his job as a banker to produce his first movie, Irapada, a couple

of years ago, said The Figurine, which features Ramsey Nouah, Omoni

Oboli, Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi, Jide Kosoko, Wale Adebayo and the

renowned Iragbiji, Osun State based artist; Muraina Oyelami who makes a

special appearance, took three months to shoot in locations within and

outside Nigeria.

He also disclosed

that though he has spent N50million naira on the film, he is still

spending more to complete the post-production work.

Afolayan explained

that he chose the box office instead of releasing the movie straight

into the market like some Nollywood film producers do because “We want

to guide against piracy and help sustain a distribution framework. We

are putting up a platform for distribution so it can run its natural

course.”

Group endorsement

Earlier, the

general managers of Genesis, Ozone and Silverbird cinemas where the

movie would be screened, endorsed The Figurine. Kene Mkparu of Genesis

Deluxe Cinemas who anchored the event said “If you have seen Irapada,

this film is a 100 times better.”

General Manager of Ozone Cinemas,

Patrick Lee, said he was glad Afolayan followed in the steps of great

filmmakers like the late Hubert Ogunde and his late father, Ade

Afolayan, known as Ade Love. He said the cinemas in Nigeria “are ready

to give backing to Nollywood”, adding that “This industry will go

global.”

He urged everybody

to support Afolayan because producing movies has been his lifelong

dream.”It took me less than five minutes to say we will work with him

when he approached us with the film. It took me five minutes to

appreciate The Figurine”, began Uwem Jacob of Silverbird Cinemas.

Jacob, who

disclosed that the Silverbird’s distributor in South Africa is also

interested in the movie also said “Nigeria has produced a movie that

can compete with Hollywood.”

A thriller, The Figurine is about two friends, Femi (Ramsey Nouah)

and Sola (Kunle Afolayan) who discover a carved artwork in the forest

while serving in Araromire village. Against Femi’s advice, Sola picks

up the mysterious artwork, which bestows good luck on him.

He becomes a

successful man with a happy family, but the story changes suddenly

after seven years. Things go awry and the two friends and Mona, Sola’s

wife, have to contend against unseen forces to get their lives back on

track.