Golden Icons just spoke with Film Maker ‘Jetta Amata, and he was very furious about the attack on his fellow colleague / film maker ‘Kunle Afolayan’. Some journalist on a major platform indicated that his movies October 1, and The CEO are not originals and implying that they should not be celebrated. Here is a glimpse of what was published on Thisdaylive.com..“But why would the ilk of Afolayan go to the bank to borrow N50 million to fund a story that was largely a copycat and turned it into his own movie? The inquiry into Afolayan’s two recently most viewed and acclaimed movies raise questions as to the dearth of creative talents in Nigeria.”
In Jetta’s words he said “This is simply a vicious attack on Kunle.. and let it be known that an attack on Kunle Afolayan is an attack on me and every other Nigerian film maker that has been working for years to propagate and export Nigerian entertainment. Kunle is a fantastic film maker, I’ve known him for years, the first time we met was 10 years ago at the AAMA Awards, when we were both nominated for Best Director; and all through the years, we always end up getting nominated in different film festivals and awards both in Nigeria and abroad. One thing you can’t take away from him is his commitment and diligence to the craft of film making, always trying to push the envelope and not just do the status quo.
I stand with Kunle anytime, and our bloggers and newspapers should really vet what they allow on their platforms. I am in no way trying to stifle free speech which I completely stand for, but malicious attacks on one of the front runners of the Nigerian film industry will not move us forward towards attaining the global audience that film makers are trying to appeal to.”
