Excitement as Kunle Afolayan screens The CEO to the press

Ojo, Kunle Afolayan and General Manager Airfrance, Jean-Raoul TAUZIN)
After a 45-minute screening of Kunle Afolayan’s new movie, The CEO, to the press, testimonies abound of another blockbuster to have come out of Nigeria. With so much expectation for every work by the filmmaker, fans, friends, sponsors also stormed the press screening of the movie which held at the Silverbird Cinema, City Mall, Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday –cheering every moment as the tape rolled. Incidentally, the film bellies a pan-African marketing prospect, having pooled its cast from countries

such as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Benin Republic, Ivory Coast and Morocco among others.

Speaking after the press screening, Afolayan revealed details of the much anticipated in-flight premiere of The CEO aboard an Air-France trip to Paris, where the film will headline the prestigious Nollywood Week Paris, a film festival organized by the French-based association Okada Media, headed by Serge Noukoué and Nadira Shakur.

Afolayan said: “Come June 1, 2016, we shall be having the first-of- its-kind premiere of The CEO aboard Air France to Paris, France. This special premiere will begin with a Red Carpet show at the Check-In Counter at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport. There shall be the best of media coverage from partners such as Africa magic, Silverbird Television, Hip TV and other broadcast and print media who have shown us tremendous support from the past. For our sponsors, partners, the cast and crew of The CEO and those accredited to attend Nollywood Week Paris, the fun continues with a Cocktail Party at the Boarding Gate. We will run a red carpet into the plane. Thereafter, the movie will be screened onboard the plane where other passengers will partake in the show. It is going to be a complete event show with the usual razzmatazz. Just imagine an After Party happening 35,000ft to 40,000ft above the sea level. It is sure going to be a unique experience. It is also good to know that our fans will be waiting for us in Paris where the film has been slated for a special premiere at the Nollywood Week Paris, taking place from May 2 nd to 5 th at the popular Cinema l’Arlequin.”

Some of the top dignitaries expected as part of the in-flight premiere are the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, Commercial Manager, Air France/KLM Arthur Dieffenthaler and Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed Olagunju Corroborating Afolayan’s disclosure on the premiere, Commercial Manager, Air France/KLM, Arthur Dieffenthaler, noted that there had never been an in-flight premiere of such, even in Hollywood or Bollywood. The initiative, according to him represents some of the big ideas that Air France/KLM and Afolayan’s Golden Effects Company stand for. He disclosed that this is the first time a Nigerian film will be shot at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris, France, expressing optimism that the partnership will go on for a long time.

The CEO had wonderful casts that includes Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and entertainer from Benin Republic, Angélique Kidjo; Haitan actor and model Jimmy Jean-Louis; consummate actor, Wale Ojo; French-Ivorian actress and model, Aurelie Eliam; South African actor and presenter, Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos; Nigerian actress, Kemi Lala Akindoju; Moroccan star, Fatim Layachi; Kenyan actor Peter King, Nigerian actress, Hilda Dokubo as well as Nigerian singer, Adekunle Gold and Moroccan Afrobian artiste, Ahmed Soultan who made cameo appearances in the film.

The CEO as “an experiment to develop value for Africa cinema,” saying, “this is something that I am very passionate about. This all started as a kid, every time I see the pictures of my father and his contemporaries at film festivals.

Other schedules for The CEO include a Lagos premiere scheduled for July 10, 2016, to be followed by Cinema release on July 15, 2016