Latest from King Bygone Page 8
Profile Folarin Balogun: the striker with Nigerian parents who chose the United States
Folarin Balogun, born in New York to Nigerian parents and raised in London, came through Arsenal's academy and scored freely on loan at Reims. In 2023 he chose to play for the United States, then joined Monaco.
Profile Michael Olise: the London-born playmaker with Nigerian roots who chose France
Michael Olise, born in London in 2001 to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother, rose through Reading and Crystal Palace before joining Bayern Munich in 2024. Eligible for several countries, he chose to represent France.
Movies & TV Battle on Buka Street: Funke Akindele and Mercy Johnson’s food-stall rivalry comedy
Battle on Buka Street, released in December 2022, stars Funke Akindele and Mercy Johnson Okojie as half-sisters whose rivalry spills into competing food businesses. Co-directed by Akindele and Tobi Makinde, it became a major box office hit.
Movies & TV Sugar Rush: the 2019 Nollywood heist comedy about three sisters and a bag of money
Sugar Rush, directed by Kayode Kasum and produced by Jade Osiberu, was released in December 2019. It follows the Sugar sisters, who stumble on a fortune and find themselves chased by criminals and agents. The comedy was a box office success.
Entertainment Africa Magic: the DStv channel that put Nollywood on screens across the continent
Africa Magic, launched by M-Net in 2003 on DStv, became the main television home of Nollywood films across Africa. It grew into a family of channels and created the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards in 2013.
Profile Kanayo O. Kanayo: the Living in Bondage actor who became a Nollywood elder
Kanayo O. Kanayo, born Anayo Modestus Onyekwere in Imo State, rose to fame in the 1992 film Living in Bondage, often called the start of Nollywood. He became one of the industry's best-known faces, playing powerful and often villainous men.
Profile Sola Sobowale: from Toyin Tomato to Eniola Salami in King of Boys
Sola Sobowale has acted in Yoruba films and Nigerian television for decades. Famous as Toyin Tomato in Super Story, she found new fame as the scene-stealing mother in The Wedding Party and as the political godmother Eniola Salami in King of Boys.
Movies & TV Citation: Kunle Afolayan’s Netflix drama about a student who refuses to stay quiet
Citation, directed by Kunle Afolayan and released on Netflix in 2020, follows a postgraduate student who accuses a respected professor of sexual assault. Starring Temi Otedola and Jimmy Jean-Louis, it drew attention to harassment in Nigerian universities.
Movies & TV Ijé: The Journey, the Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola film shot in America
Ijé: The Journey, directed by Chineze Anyaene and released in 2010, starred Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde as sisters. Shot largely in the United States, it follows a woman who travels from Nigeria to help her sister accused of murder.
Movies & TV The Figurine: Kunle Afolayan’s 2009 thriller about a goddess, luck and a curse
The Figurine, also called Araromire, was directed by Kunle Afolayan and released in 2009. Starring Ramsey Nouah, Omoni Oboli and Afolayan, it tells of a figurine that brings seven years of good fortune and seven years of bad. It won five Africa Movie Academy Awards.