“I Have Spent Over N8 Billion Building A Film Village”- Kunle Afolayan Opens Up On Filmmaking Challenges
- Kunle Afolayan, a Nigerian filmmaker, discussed financial challenges in building filmmaking infrastructure.
- He highlighted difficulties faced during the production of his film Anikulapo.
- A major issue was the lack of accommodation for cast and crew members during the shoot.
Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has opened up about the enormous financial challenges he has faced while building infrastructure to support his filmmaking projects.
Speaking in a recent interview, the award-winning filmmaker recalled the difficulties his team encountered while shooting Anikulapo, particularly the lack of accommodation for cast and crew members.
According to Afolayan, the production team had to rely on the hospitality of residents and squat in people’s homes because there was no suitable accommodation available. The experience eventually motivated him to establish accommodation facilities within his film village.
He revealed that he constructed about 100 rooms to provide lodging for people working on his productions.
Beyond the accommodation challenge, Afolayan disclosed that he has personally invested more than N8 billion in developing the film village, despite receiving no financial assistance from the government.
The filmmaker also highlighted the difficulties of providing a reliable power supply at the facility. He said he has spent millions of naira on diesel and invested about N200 million in solar energy, but maintained that the investment has still not fully solved the electricity problem.
“When we shot Anikulapo film, we didn’t have accommodation. We were squatting in people’s houses. I had to build 100 rooms in the film village.
“I’ve spent over N8 billion of my own money building a film village, yet I get no government support. We don’t even have electricity. I’ve spent millions on diesel and had to spend N200 million on solar, but even that isn’t enough”.
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