Kunle Afolayan
| Kunle Afolayan | |
|---|---|
 Kunle Afolayan at the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards | |
| Born |
30 September 1974[1] Ebute Metta, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria |
| Residence | Magodo, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria[2] |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Citizenship | Nigerian |
| Occupation | Actor, Director, Producer |
| Religion | Free-thinker[3] |
| Spouse(s) | Tolu Afolayan |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Adeyemi Josiah Afolayan (Ade Love - father) |
| Relatives |
Moji Afolayan (sister) Gabriel Afolayan (brother) Aremu Afolayan (brother) |
Kunle Afolayan (born; 30 September 1974)[4] is a Nigerian actor and film producer and director.
Early life and career
Kunle Afolayan is of Igbomina-Yoruba descent, from Kwara State.[5][6][7] He is the son of the famous theater and film director and producer Ade Love. He majored in economics and started out working in a bank while doing some casual acting, before deciding to move into full-time filmmaking and taking a course at the New York Film Academy.[7] Since 2005 he has been active in the Nigerian film industry. He has made several extremely popular titles including: The Figurine: Araromire which was in the Yoruba and English languages and Phone Swap which featured Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Nse Ikpe Etim and the legendary Chika Okpala. The Figurine won five major awards in the African Film Academy and experienced tremendous success in the Nigerian movie theaters.[6]
Kunle Afolayan appeared at the Subversive Film Festival in 2011 where he represented the second largest film industry in the world, the Nigerian film industry, with his colleague Zeb Ejiro.[6] In May 2013, Phone Swap premiered in France at the first edition of NollywoodWeek Paris and won the Public Choice Award.[8] Afolayan's father Adeyemi Josiah Afolayan (Ade-Love) was a renowned Nigerian artist of the second half of the 20th century. He worked in traveling theater and turned to the film making industry.[9] Afolayan's father felt strongly about education and therefore Afolayan completed his studies in accounting.[9]
Personal life
Kunle is married to Tolu and they have 3 kids.[10][11] He identifies as a Free-thinker.[3]
Controversy
On 6 April 2015, Afolayan posted a tweet which implied that Igbos are the majority group behind copyright infringement in Nigeria. This led to backlash from fans; Afolayan however apologized after. He cited that he was bitter at the time of his tweet; concerning the unauthorized distribution of his films, and most especially hints on the potential release of unlicensed copies of October 1, his latest film at the time.[12][13]
References
- ↑ "Its Kunle Afolayan's birthday". The Nation thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ "Kunle Afolayan Shows Off His New House In Magodo". Star Gist. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
- 1 2 "Dad didn't encourage his children to act -Kunle Afolayan". Ilorin Info. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ↑ "Celebrity Birthday: Kunle Afolayan Celebrates New Year". Information Nigeria informationng.com. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ Akande, Victor (22 December 2012). "Kunle Afolayan on the trail of Yoruba deities". The Nation. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 "'Mi smo nova filmska revolucija'". www.tportal.hr.
- 1 2 "234Next.com". 234next.com.
- ↑ "NollywoodWeek Paris". nollywoodweek.com.
- 1 2 Interview with Kunle Afolayan, Director The Figurine (araromire). YouTube. 16 March 2010.
- ↑ "Kunle Afolayan: "Does our Government consider Us worthy Citizens of Nigeria?"". bellanaija.com. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ↑ "I work too hard but i'm still a tenant" – Kunle Afolayan to relocate from Nigeria". dailypost.ng. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ↑ Chidumga Izuzu (9 April 2015). "Kunle Afolayan on controversial tweets: "I was not aware of the Oba's comment, I was just bitter" [Video]". pulse.ng.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: "I Was Just Bitter", Kunle Afolayan On His 'Igbo' Tweets - Channels Television". Channels Television.