Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced on Oct. 5 that the groundbreaking ceremony for the 100 million-dollar African Film City project in Epe would take place before the end of October. The project aims to boost the originality and quality of Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry.
The governor disclosed this during a news conference on the forthcoming 12th African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) at the Government House, Marina, Lagos. He said that the film city would be on 100 hectares of land in Epe and that it would be massive. He added that he hoped that the first set of studios would be ready from 24 to 30 months after the groundbreaking.
Sanwo-Olu revealed that he had visited some studios in the United States of America, such as Prime Studio and Sugarland, and that they were excited and promised to come to Lagos. He also said that the state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Del-York Group for the construction of the project in October 2022.
In addition, the governor said that the state government would be doubling its capacity-building support for talented young industry players to enhance their skills in modern filmmaking. He also said that grants for filmmakers would be increased henceforth to enable them operate seamlessly.
According to guardian.ng, the governor urged the practitioners to use their ingenuity to create ‘Africanised’ content that would change the continent’s socio-cultural narrative. He said that through this, the world would know that Nigeria was ready. He expressed his excitement that the 12th AFRIFF was around the corner to further showcase the original local content to the world.
He said that the festival had offered a platform for young talents to flourish and that he believed that this year’s event would be the biggest. He said that the state government was proud to be part of it and that it was the right thing to do. He said that it was only when Nigerians could hold themselves together and tell their stories that the world would understand their history.
