October 1

There was a lot of media publicity for Kunle Afolayan’s October first. Nigeria sometimes has a tendency to celebrate mediocrity, and coupled with my distrust for some Nollywood products, I was skeptical about the movie.

I had seen The Figurine on DVD a while back and I have to admit the movie was cool.

I asked a couple of friends that had gone to see October first in the theaters and the reviews were good and so I took the plunge myself.

I and the wife went to Silverbird Cinemas and we emerged saying ‘Afolayan is going to change Nollywood!’

October first is a “whodunit” movie set in colonial Nigeria just about when the Independence was to be declared on October first hence the name .Themes also addressed in the movie include tribalism, sexual abuse, and homosexuality. There was a nice touch of comedy with Corporal Afonja played by Kayode Aderupoko who almost stole the show.

Another person worthy of mention was Demola Adedoyin who acted the role of Prince Aderopo. He was royalty personified. The point of view shots which visualize the eyes of the killer instead of the killer himself further aids the suspense and the historical props used in the movie makes this a proper thriller in every sense of the word.

Watch this and see Nollywood come of age.

N.B. Afolayan is currently shooting another movie called The CEO.