Kunle Afolayan

Early Work and Breakthrough (1998 - 2010)

Afolayan started his film career as an actor in Tunde Kelani's political drama Saworoide, released in 1999. Kelani encouraged Afolayan, who was more interested in being a director, to first become an actor before moving behind the camera. Between 1998 and 2004, Afolayan appeared in several Nollywood films while also working at a bank in corporate affairs. After quitting his banking career to pursue a full-time career in film, Afolayan attended the New York Film Academy where he received a diplomat in digital filmmaking in 2005.^[13]

In 2006 Afolayan made his directorial debut with Irapada, a supernatural thriller which won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film in an African Language.^[14] It is considered to be among the first Nollywood films in the mid-2000's to represent the New Nigerian Cinema, a move away from low-budget, straight-to-video films toward higher production value films with complex storylines that were intended to be seen in cinemas. ^[15] ​Afoloayan said of Irapada, of which sixty percent was in English, that is was misunderstood as it concerns the film's Yoruba designation. "It's not about if it is an English, Yoruba or Igbo movie. Irapada is a purely Nigerian movie because it has all the Nigerian Major languages. We wanted to do something that will not only be peculiar to one's one's race but to the entire nation, something that will attract an average movie lover." ^[16]

The second film he directed,The Figurine (2010), was a critical and commercial success, turning Afolayan into one of Nollywood's best known filmmakers. It received ten nominations and won five awards at the 6th Africa Movie Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Achievement in Visual Effect, Heart of African Award for Best Film from Nigeria, Achievement in Cinematography, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. ^[17] The film, subject of a scholarly book, Auteuring Nollywood: Critical Perspectives on The Figurine, solidified Afolayan's position as one of the leading Nigerian filmmakers at the forefront of the New Nigerian Cinema movement.^[18]

Career Progression and Netflix (2011- present)

Afolayan's next film, Phone Swap (2012), was conceived in response to an advertising brief on behalf of a corporate sponsor for a film that would appeal to the 15-45 age demographic. Afolayan intentionally sought to do a comedy to diversify his production company. "Phone Swap is something different from what I’ve done in the past. It’s light, it’s bright, it’s a different genre from Irapada or from The Figurine." It received 4 nominations at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards, including the category Best Nigerian Film and won the award Achievement in Production Design.

In 2014, Afolayan had another commercial and critical success with October 1, a thriller taking place in 1960 colonial Nigeria. It was the winner of 16 major African movie awards—including Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor at the 2014 Africa International Film Festival—and was the second highest grossing Nigerian film at the time of its release, a feat Afolayan was to repeat two years later with The CEO. As of April 2025, both films rank #66 on the List of highest-grossing Nigerian films. In 2015, Netflix acquired the online distribution rights to October 1, making it one of the first Nollywood films to be featured on the streamer.^[19]

Afoloyan's next film, The Bridge (2017), was a romantic drama starring Nigerian singer Chidinma in her first acting role. The film, in which Chidinma's Igbo characters falls in love with a Yoruba prince, was in part a social commentary about the pressures young Nigerian couples face involving class and tribe in their marriage choices. That same year, the director released the comedy Omugwo, which is the term for the postpartum care provided a mother and her newborn in the Igbo tradition.^[20]

In 2021 Kunle released Citation, a Netflix drama based on the real-life issue of sexual intimidation and assault by professors taking place on Nigerian campuses. Citation was the fourth Afolayan film that the streamer had acquired online distribution rights for after The CEO, October 1, and The Figurine. Later that year, Netflix announced it was expanding the scope of its partnership with Afolayan by commissioning three original movies : a historical drama, a folklore fantasy, and a character drama.^[21]

Swallow, the screen adaption of Sefi Atta's book by the same name was the first Netflix release in October 2021. Taking place in Lagos in the 1980s, the gritty drama follows a young woman played by Ijeoma Grace Agu who weighs whether to become a drug mule. Netflix next released Aníkúlápó, an epic Nigerian fantasy, in September 2022. Afolayan described the film as a "Game of Thrones recreated in Nigeria but with a better representation of our culture”.^[22]  Eleven days after its release, it was the #1 most-watched non-English Netflix original film, and in 2023 ^[23] was also the most nominated film at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, with 16 nods.^[24] The film's sequel, Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre, was released as a 6-episode series on March 1, 2024 ^[25] and was ranked a top-10 Netflix release for 10 weeks in Nigeria, amassing over 13M viewed hours. ^[26] In October 2024, the director announced that Netflix had renewed the series for a second season.^[27]

Ijogbon, part of Afolayan's Netflix 3-picture deal, was released in October 2023. The film, scripted by Tunde Babalola of Afolayan's October 1 and Citation, is a coming-of-age drama centered on four friends in rurual South West Nigiera who stumble across a bag of uncut diamonds. Within its first two weeks, the film was ranked in the global Top 10 and in the Top 10 in 16 countries.^[26]

While a beneficiary of a Netflix partnership over the years, Afolayan has also been a proponent of the Nigerian film industry doing more to diversify and strengthen its own distribution platforms.^[28] In early 2025 he released several of his films, The Figurine, Phone Swap, and The CEO, for free viewing on his YouTube's KAPStream channel.^{[29] [30]} In a Channels TV interview, he explained that due to the very limited African cinema distribution at the time of their release, this was an opportunity to bring the films to a wider audience. He added that filmmakers should balance their commercial imperatives with ensuring their works remain relevant and available for future generations. ^[31]