Kunle Afolayan partners US embassy to train aspiring filmmakers

The United States embassy in Nigeria has partnered with Kunle Afolayan Productions (KAP) Film & Television Academy to train aspiring filmmakers.

The partnership was announced at a media briefing on Tuesday at the KAP Village in Ikeja, Lagos.

The event marked the beginning of the collaboration and also flagged off the third edition of the academy’s Reel Circle, an initiative for film enthusiasts to learn from industry experts.

The initiative aims to empower young Nigerian filmmakers through a four-day workshop focused on movie directing and cinematography.

At the ceremony, Afolayan said the partnership was initiated during his recent visit to the United States.

The 50-year-old award-winning producer said the training aims to nurture the next generation of Nigerian filmmakers by providing hands-on experience to top US industry professionals.

He also highlighted the academy’s other partnerships, including ones with the French embassy and a German company, which have enabled training for 10,000 youths.

“When the opportunity to partner with this US Embassy came, we felt we could merge the capacity building training. Because our focus is the young people. But Reel Circle is for everybody,” he said.

“It is like raising a child. Some of them are this genuinely while some of them think it is a place where they could make a quick name. I think the onus rests on us to pass the information, and knowledge as much as we can regardless of whether they listen or not.

“This is just one of our initiatives. We have a partnership with the French embassy. We just completed one with a German company. We have also held training for 10,000 youths. Some of these people work permanently in-house for us. For me, that is a success story.”

Angel Williams, the US-based writer and director, and Erin Wesley, the American visual artist and cinematographer, were selected as tutors. The training will be held between November 12 and 16.

Will Stevens, the US consul general in Nigeria, described the partnership as a continuation of shared culture between the two countries.

“As an American diplomat, I feel deeply, the power of our culture and how the United States has benefitted for many decades, the power of culture and that has helped how people perceive the United States for better and for worse but it also led to increased interest in visiting and doing business in the United States,” he said.

Sola Sobowale, Tunde Kelani, Steve Sodiya, and Ope Ajayi were among the notable persons who attended the event.