- Bolanle Austen-Peters is one of the most reputable directors in Nollywood
- Her portfolio of movies shows she’s on a mission to preserve African history through Nollywood offerings
- TheRadar spotlights the producer, lawyer and director, who is also the daughter of the renowned Afe Babalola (SAN)
One cannot neglect the essence of cultural storytelling through art, films, music and historical events, which is powerful. Bolanle Austen-Peters surely holds the notion with utmost importance.
As the founder and director of Terraculture, an art and culture space, she penetrated into the Nigerian film industry, breaking frontiers to document history through her cultural storytelling skills.
Bolanle, the daughter of the renowned lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afe Babalola, owns a production company called BAP Production. This company is responsible for musicals and historical projects such as Saro the Musical, Wakaa the Musical, Moremi the Musical, Fela and The Kalakuta Queens, and Death and The King’s Horsemen, among others.
It is one thing to tell stories in films, but not many tell stories that preserve great historical moments. This feat makes Bolanle undoubtedly one of the biggest entrepreneurs driving Nigeria’s films, theatre, and entertainment today.
She was described by CNN as “the woman pioneering theatre in Nigeria,” and by Forbes Afrique as one of the most influential women in Africa. She also enjoys a global recognition for her contribution to the Nigerian art space.
Analysing Bolanle Austen-Peters’ contribution to Nollywood
21 years so far in the Nollywood space, Bolanle has worn art and culture on her sleeves, creating authentic and culturally rooted stories.
In 2003, she established Terra Culture, an educational and cultural hub that promotes Nigerian languages, arts and culture. Known as the first privately owned theatre in Nigeria, the space also accommodates a restaurant, art gallery, auction house, language school, film production studio and Academy for the study of art.
Spurred by a desire to change the narrative about Africa, particularly women, she founded her own production company Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions (BAP), in 2013. The company kicked off with its first production called Saro, the Musical.
The musical, which tells the story of four men who embark on a journey to Lagos to fulfil their dreams, was staged in Lagos before touring London in 2016.
Notably, in 2017, her movie 93 Days received thirteen nominations at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards and also clinched a nomination for the Rapid Lion Awards. Setting a record, it got seven nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, which was the highest at the time.
Austen-Peters spotlighted the women, who were an integral part of Fela’s band with her direction of the musical Fela and The Katakuta Queens. It chronicled the life of the Afrobeat legend alongside these women. It was described as one of the biggest to come out of Africa with over 120, 000 people as audience in 2017.
Bolanle also received accolades for her most recent biopic, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a historical tale of Fela’s mother from her pioneering days to being an activist who fought for women. The 2022 movie won the ‘Best Overall Feature Film’ and “Best Screenplay’ awards at Africa International Film Festival Awards (AFRIFF). It is also described as the “all-time highest-grossing biopic in West Africa.”
With her forthcoming project, House of Ga’a, which will be released on July 26, 2024, in partnership with Netflix, one can truly agree that Bolanle has indeed created a niche in Nollywood she is good at. The theatre queen has proven that when cultural storytelling is done well, magic is made on screen.
Celebrating Stanley Okorie: The Voice behind Nollywood’s memorable soundtracks
Earlier, TheRadar spotlighted Stanley Okorie, the singer behind some of the memorable soundtracks in Nollywood carved a unique niche for himself in the industry.
His music has been an integral part of the Nigerian film experience, adding depth and emotion to countless Nollywood movies.
