Just as Funke Akindele has left giant footprints on the cinema landscape of Nollywood, as an actress and filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan has also serrated the scene with his iconic marks as a leading director of note.

Beyond his artistry in delivering uncommon movies, Afolayan changed the landscape by elevating the quality of Nollywood movies through larger budgets, shooting on 35mm, releasing in cinemas, and improving cliché Nollywood storylines.

After starting his film career as an actor in the 1999 political drama, Saworoide, Afolayan made his directorial debut in 2006 with Irapada, a Nigerian supernatural thriller, which won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film in an African Language. His follow-on directing credits include The Figurine, Phone Swap, October 1, and Citation.

October 1 was the winner of 16 major African movie awards in 2015 and the second highest grossing Nigerian film in Nigerian cinemas at the time of its release, a feat Afolayan was to repeat two years later with The CEO.

In 2021, the director signed a three-picture deal with Netflix.Swallow, the screen adaptation of Sefi Atta’s book of the same name was the first to be released in October 2021, followed by Aníkúlápó, an epic Nigerian fantasy released in September 2022. Afolayan has described the work as a ‘Game of Thrones recreated in Nigeria but with a better representation of our culture’. Eleven days after its release, it was the #1 most-watched non-English Netflix original film

Afolayan’s top ten movies, namely; A Naija’s Christmas, Anikulapo, October 1, Ijogbon, Monkalik, The Figurine, Omugwo, The CEO, Phone Swap and Citation rank in the top echelon of biggest box office movies in Nigeria.

Anikulapo, for instance, grossed total revenue of N9,387,000 in its first week and made a 7-day revenue average of N184,059. The CEO (2016) and October 1(2014) grossed N60 million at the box office respectively. Omugwo (2017) made N48 M while Monkalik (2019) grossed N46M.