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Niyi Towolawi is a British filmmaker and writer/director of TWisTED [1] [2] and Turning Point . [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] He is a filmmaker introducing the Nollywood audience to international cinema, with his film production.
Towolawi is of Yoruba, Nigerian descent, and grew up in Canning Town, East London. He is a Mathematics graduate from the University of Manchester, where he played basketball and studied Shaolin Kung Fu. He is known for being a keen jazz musician and plays numerous musical instruments.
He began producing music in high school and had a number of white labels releases at the height of the UK Garage scene, and worked with notable artistes including a pre-stardom D'Banj, published under HekCentrik Music. He worked as a software developer, headhunted by some of the world's leading organisations, after graduating from university, where he continued producing music and shooting numerous music videos, in a cinematic style that evolved into making feature films.
He has been at the forefront of the digital cinematography revolution since 2005 shooting then with 35mm adapters on camcorders, a D-I-Y approach that pre-dates the digital cinema cameras and video DSLR generation of today. His film, "TWisTED" was one of the first to project digitally when it premiered at Odeon, Surrey Quays in 2007, with support from the UK Film Council.
His films centre around people of African origin in the Diaspora. His plotlines explore elements of multi-dimensional relationships along ethnic, gender, or taboo issues, and often feature characters of subjective motives. He lists Ridley Scott as his all-time favourite director.
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwriting, casting, pre-production, shooting, sound recording, post-production, and screening the finished product before an audience, which may result in a film release and exhibition. The process is nonlinear, as the director typically shoots the script out of sequence, repeats shots as needed, and puts them together through editing later. Filmmaking occurs in a variety of economic, social, and political contexts around the world, and uses a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques to make theatrical films, episodic films for television and streaming platforms, music videos, and promotional and educational films.
The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood, consists of films produced in Nigeria; its history dates back to as early as the late 19th century and into the colonial era in the early 20th century. The history and development of the Nigerian motion picture industry is sometimes generally classified in four main eras: the Colonial era, Golden Age era, Video film era and the emerging New Nigerian cinema era.
A turning point, or climax (narrative), is the point of highest tension in a narrative work.
Michael Figgis is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers' online community Shooting People.
Jon Moritsugu is an American cult-underground filmmaker and musician. His movies are satiric, protopunk deconstructions of popular genres and formats with scabrous and pointedly garish results. The New York Times describes them as "funny, anarchic, provocative and exhilarating". Influenced by the nihilism of Jean-Luc Godard and Guy Debord, Moritsugu's films are often defined by their "lo-fi" aesthetic and were initially shot on 16mm film for a gritty, visceral quality. He states that he often "pay(s) less attention to narrative flow and storyline and put(s) more emphasis on sight, sound and spectacle" to create a movie that is "like a live punk/hardcore show." The works themselves are often absurdist comedies that feature actress, co-writer, stylist, and wife, Amy Davis. Perhaps best known for his cult film Mod Fuck Explosion, Moritsugu's films have been screened at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Venice, USA Film Festival, New York Underground, Chicago Underground, MoMA, Guggenheim, Whitney and numerous other festivals and museums. In 2001 he received the Moving Image award from Creative Capital.
Previsualization is the visualizing of scenes or sequences in a movie before filming. It is a concept used in other creative arts, including animation, performing arts, video game design, and still photography. Previsualization typically describes techniques like storyboarding, which uses hand-drawn or digitally-assisted sketches to plan or conceptualize movie scenes.
Julius Onah is a Nigerian-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed the films The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), Luce (2019), and the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World (2025).
Sidney Onoriode Esiri, commonly known as Dr SID, is a Nigerian singer.
Andrew Dosunmu is a Nigerian photographer and filmmaker who came to prominence in the United States after directing music videos for various acclaimed artists including Isaac Hayes, Angie Stone, Common, Tracy Chapman, Wyclef Jean, Kelis, Aaron Neville, Talib Kweli, and Maxwell.
Turning Point is a 2012 drama film written and directed by Niyi Towolawi and starring Jackie Appiah, K.D. Aubert, Todd Bridges, Ernie Hudson, Patience Ozokwor, with Igoni Archibong in leading role of "Ade". It received 2 nominations at the 9th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Michelle Bello is a British Nigerian film director and film producer. She is also CEO of a Nigerian-based entertainment and publishing company, Blu Star Entertainment Limited. Bello was born in London, England.
Matt Bish, also known as Matthew Bishanga, is a Ugandan filmmaker and the Creative Director at Bish Films. He directed the first Ugawood feature film, Battle of the Souls, in 2007.
Yemi Shodimu is a Yoruba dramatist, television presenter, film director and filmmaker.
Niji Akanni is a Nigerian dramatist, screenwriter, director, producer and filmmaker.
Menelik Shabazz was a Barbados-born British film director, producer, educator, and writer, acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of independent Black British cinema, having been at the forefront of contemporary British filmmaking for more than 30 years. Shabazz is best known for the 1981 film Burning an Illusion, his first feature. He was also co-founder in the 1980s of Kuumba film production company and Ceddo Film and Video Workshop, as well as being "founding father of the BFM media project" as the publisher of Black Filmmaker Magazine (BFM) and creator of BFM International Film Festival.
Cinema of Ghana also known as the Ghana Film Industry nicknamed Ghallywood, began when early film making was first introduced to the British colony of Gold Coast in 1923. At the time only affluent people could see the films, especially the colonial master of Gold Coast. In the 1950s, film making in Ghana began to increase. Cinemas were the primary venue for watching films until home video became more popular. The movie industry has no official name as yet since consultations and engagements with stakeholders has been ongoing when a petition was sent to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture which suspended the use of the name Black Star Films.
The cinema of Cameroon includes French and English-language filmmaking. The Anglophone film industry is sometimes known as Collywood.
Niyi Akinmolayan is a Nigerian filmmaker and director and one of Nollywood’s most successful hitmakers. Five of his films rank in the top 50 highest grossing Nigerian films:The Wedding Party 2 (2017) Chief Daddy (2018), Prophetess (2021), My Village People (2021), and The Set Up (2019). He is also the founder and Creative Director of Anthill Studios, a media production facility. In January 2022, Anthill Studios signed a multi-year deal with Amazon Prime Video to become the exclusive global streaming home for Anthill’s slate of cinema releases following their theatrical runs in Nigeria.
The Set Up is a 2019 Nigerian crime thriller film directed by Niyi Akinmolayan. The film stars Dakore Akande, Adesua Etomi and Kehinde Bankole in the lead roles. The plot of the film is based on a young woman who drops her childhood innocence as she delves to become a criminal for survival. The film was released on 9 August 2019 and received mixed reviews and was also criticised for too much plot twist and turns in the screenplay. Despite the mixed reception, the film became a success at the box office. It was also streamed via Netflix on 22 April 2020.
The Miracle Centre is a 2020 Nigerian comedy film directed by Niyi Towolawi and co-produced by director himself with Odetoye Bode for Kherut Films. The film stars Yemi Shodimu with Hafeez "Saka" Oyetoro, Ayo Mogaji, Femi Adebayo, and Ayobami "Woli Agba" Ajewole in supporting roles. The film tells the story of Panya Grammar School, where a new teacher Mr Greg meets a corrupt education system where he is going to change it.