Netflix Acquires Kunle Afolayan’s “Mokalik”

Award-winning Nigerian actor, director and producer, Kunle Afolayan is the latest Nollywood star to seal a Netflix deal as he has announced yesterday, July 3 that his film, “Mokalik” and some of his other works have been acquired by the American streaming giant.

The screen star made the revelation in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday on the sideline of the French-Nigerian Cinema Days holding from July 2-3 at the Alliance Francaise, Ikoyi, Lagos.

While refraining from disclosing the value paid for the acquisition, he disclosed that the company has not announced when the films would be released on the platform. He said:

“I wish to inform you that Netflix has acquired “Mokalik” and some other of my films.”

This acquisition is in the wake of the company’s interest to get serious about acquiring original series and films from Africa created by Africans

It would be recalled that at the Toronto International Film Festival, Netflix acquired Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut Nollywood film, “Lionheart”. The film was also picked as a Netflix Original movie and was released worldwide on January 4, 2019.

Afolayan’s ‘Mokalik’ is centred on an 11-year-old middle-class boy who becomes an apprentice in a mechanic shop.

When his father arrives to take him home, Jaiye has to make up his mind if he wants to return to school or take on his apprenticeship full time.

“Visiting the mechanic workshop after about 15 years opened my eyes to a lot of things that I believe the world should know about our local auto car repairs industry,” Afolayan had said of the movie.

The film features Femi Adebayo, Charles Okocha, Simisola Ogunleye, a.k.a Simi (her debut acting role), Tobi Bakre among others.