KUNLE AFOLAYAN BACK TO HIS DRAWING BOARD AS HE SHOOTS 'THE CEO'

Nigerian filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, on Thursday unveiled the full details of his next movie, The CEO.

The event, a world press conference, which held at the popular Inagbe Grand Resorts and Leisure, revealed a cross-African cast and crew made up of actors with diverse potentials such as singing, and modeling, a renowned set designer and a highly skilled director of Photography among others.

The cast include Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, entertainer and activist from Benin, Angélique Kidjo; Haitan actor and model Jimmy Jean-Louis, best known for his role as The Haitan on the NBC television series Heroes; consummate actor, and founder of the New Nigeria Cinema movement, Wale Ojo; French-Ivorian actress and model, Aurelie Eliam; South African actor and presenter, Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos; Nigerian actress, Kemi Lala Akindoju; Moroccan star, Fatim Layachi; Kenyan actor Peter King, and Nigerian actress, Hilda Dokubo among others.

The event was also attended by officials of top partnering companies such as Air France, Africa Magic, DStv, Adron Homes and Properties Ltd., K-Square Securities, and Inagba Grand Resorts and Leisure.

Afolayan expressed gratitude to all sponsors, including the Bank of Industry (BoI), from which he got a loan under the BoI NollyFund scheme.

The event was also attended by notable filmmakers, Tunde Kelani and Tade Ogidan, and senior officers of sponsoring companies.

Arthur Dieffenthaler, commercial manager of Air France/KLM, sponsors of The CEO, reiterated the commitment of Air France to the development of arts and entertainment in Africa.

“This is a unique project and film which is a great avenue to export culture to touch people’s lives. For us at Air France, we don’t partner with just anybody. In the area of quality, we decided to choose Kunle because we believe that this movie will break bounds and move over Africa overboard,” said Dieffenthaler.

Angelique Kidjo who maintained that she is passionate about using music to export the culture of Africa to the rest of the world appears to have found an ally in Afolayan, who is using film to achieve the same purpose.

She noted that she accepted to play a role in the movie because it suits her aspiration as one who has been using music to propagate the ideals of the continent.