There is a recent increase in the number of Nollywood movies available on Netflix. However, there has been a long-standing relationship between the movie streaming behemoth and the Nigerian film industry.
Nollywood isn’t a new phenomenon. A quick Google search reveals that the Nigerian film industry has been active since the late 1800s. Ola Balogun (Cry Freedom, A Deusa Negra) is regarded as a Nollywood pioneer. His films from the 1970s and 1980s paved the way for the Nollywood film boom of the 1990s.
Nollywood has grown to be one of the world’s largest film industries, and Netflix has taken notice, as have Chinese media companies, both of which have signed deals with the country’s filmmaking behemoths such as Ayo Makun (AY) and EbonyLife Films.
Netflix has been steadily amassing a library of Nollywood films for several years, but it only began producing originals in 2018. As a result, more people are becoming acquainted with the entertaining world of Nigerian cinema.
We’ve selected 5 must see Nollywood movies currently streaming on Netflix.
1. 76
76 is a 2016 Nigerian historical fiction drama film directed by Izu Ojukwu and produced by Adonaijah Owiriwa and Izu Ojukwu. Ramsey Nouah, Chidi Mokeme, Rita Dominic, and Ibinabo Fiberesima star in it.
A young officer from the Middle Belt falls in love with an O-level student from the South-eastern region six years after the civil war. Their relationship, however, is strained by their frequent military postings. The soldier is accused of involvement in the failed 1976 military coup and assassination of General Murtala Mohammed, and his heavily pregnant wife is caught up in an emotional quagmire.
Before filming began in 1976, the historical account had to go through a seven-month approval process at the Nigerian Military.
The film was shot in Ibadan, Oyo, during the 1970s. The film, which was shot on 16mm film with an Arriflex 416 camera, took about five years to complete.
2. Oloture
The script for ol0turé is based in part, on the work of Nigerian investigative journalist Tobore Ovuorie. On November 5, 2018, filming began at a location in Lagos, Nigeria.
oloturé (Sharon Ooja) is a young and inexperienced Nigerian journalist who goes undercover to expose the dangerous and brutal underworld of human trafficking. It is set in Lagos and depicts how sex workers are recruited to be exploited abroad.
The story is gripping, moving, relatable, and time-sensitive. The conflict is so well planned that you have a feeling something will go wrong for anyone at any point in the film.
The ending is realistic, frightening, and brutal.
3. Figurine: Araromire
Figurine is a 2009 Nigerian supernatural suspense thriller film written by Kemi Adesoye and produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan, who also stars as one of the main protagonists in the film. Ramsey Nouah and Omoni Oboli also appear.
The film tells the story of two friends who discover a mystical sculpture in an abandoned shrine in the woods while serving at a National Youth Service Corps camp, and one of them decides to bring the artwork home with them. Unbeknownst to them, the sculpture is from the goddess ‘Araromire,’ who bestows seven years of good luck on anyone who comes into contact with it, followed by seven years of bad luck.
4. The Wedding party
Kemi Adetiba directed The Wedding Party, a 2016 Nigerian romantic comedy drama film. It had its world premiere on September 8, 2016, at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, and on November 26, 2016, at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos. The film was released worldwide on December 16, 2016, and it quickly became the highest-grossing Nigerian film, a record that was broken in 2017 by its sequel, The Wedding Party 2.
The film is set during the day and evening of the wedding of Dunni Coker (Adesua Etomi), a 24-year-old art gallery owner and the only daughter of Engineer Bamidele and Mrs. Tinuade Coker, and the IT entrepreneur Dozie Onwuka (Banky Wellington). Lady Obianuju Onwuka, his mother, believes her son is marrying beneath himself.
5. Sugar Rush
Sugar Rush is a 2019 Nigerian crime action comedy film directed by Kayode Kasum and written by Jadesola Osiberu and Bunmi Ajakaiye. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, becoming the fourth highest grossing Nigerian film of all time.
The Sugar sisters inadvertently find $800,000 in the home of a corrupt man, Chief Douglas. They begin to spend some of the money over the next few days, only to meet their Waterloo when mafias arrive to claim the stake of the money. However, the news reached the EFCC, who issued a search warrant for the Sugar sisters but were unable to locate any money. Andy, Sola’s boyfriend, had already stolen the money from them, unbeknownst to them.
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