Rarely is a film released in modern day Nigerian cinema that continues to make the headlines and gains international recognition without being available on other exhibition platforms. Such is the story of Flower Girl, the critically acclaimed, multi-nominated and award winning romantic comedy Directed and Produced by Michelle Bello.

The likes of other notable films such as Mildred Okwo’s and Rita Dominic’s ‘The Meeting’, or Obi Emelonye’s ‘Last Flight to Abuja’ have all made it to various exhibition platforms before garnering similar acclaim and are in the final stages of their distribution shelf life as they have already been released on DVD.

*Flower Girl poster

This month, Flower Girl celebrates a remarkable year of its release having hit the big screen in an extraordinary way, selling out screens in cinemas and ending up being one of the highest grossing Nigerian productions in 2013. Apart from its box office successes, the film played strongly to delighted audiences across 15 cities in 6 countries and 3 continents around the world. A satisfied cinema goer at the Odeon Cinema, Greenwich, London, England remarked that “Flower Girl is the best thing to happen to Nigerian film in a long while.  For once we have a simple story in the Romantic Comedy genre that is well told and shot for the big screen for all to enjoy, not just Nigerians”.

For your reading pleasure we decided to put together some key highlights of Flower Girl over the last 12 months. They are:

-February 2013 – Released across all major cinemas in Nigeria on Valentine’s Day hitting No.1

-April 2013 – Released in Ghana hitting No.1

-March 2013 – Gets nominated for an award at AMAA

-July 2013 – Signs International Distribution deal

– October 2013 – Released across selected UK cinemas

– November 2013 -Gets official selection at Hollywood Black Film Festival, Los Angeles

– November 2013 -Gets official selection at the Black Film Festival UK and wins Best African     Film Award

– November 2013 – Gets official selection at AFRIFF and nominated for 2 awards

– December 2013 – Gets nominated for 4 awards at the AMVCAs on 5th March

– January 2014 – Aberdeen Screening is announced for 15th February

– February 2014 – Officially selected for the Toronto Black Film Festival on 14th February

– January 2014 – Gets officially nominated for 3 awards at the Screen Nation Awards on 26th  February

– 2014 outlook – Set to have Premium Online release in selected territories, official selection at Film Festivals, DVD release and TV Premiere, Award nominations etc.

Flower Girl is the story of a shy florist Kemi (DAMILOLA ADEGBITE) who is dying to get married. Umar (CHRIS ATTOH), her boyfriend, is dying to get ahead in his career. When their relationship hits troubled waters, Kemi seeks the help of movie superstar, Tunde (CHUKS CHUKWUJEKWU), and they hatch a plan to get Kemi what she wants – but the plan doesn’t quite work out as they anticipate and soon they realise why people say ‘love is a funny thing’.

Flower Girl will be available for Internet Subscription Video on Demand by the next quarter and on DVD later on in the year. As part of its international distribution deal, the film is set for screening on selected flight routes by international airline carriers worldwide.