Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has said the accommodation challenges he encountered while shooting his epic film, ‘Anikulapo,’ inspired him to build a film village that now has about 100 rooms.
Afolayan made this known during a recent podcast, recalling how cast members, including veteran actress Sola Sobowale and Bimbo Ademoye, had to make do with inadequate accommodation while filming in the village.
According to him, some of the actors brought personal belongings, including curtains and a freezer, as they struggled to settle into their temporary accommodation.
‘Most of the things that I’ve done were informed by me trying to solve problems. When we shot ‘Anikulapo,’ we didn’t have accommodation. We were squatting in people’s houses.
‘Imagine stars like Sola Sobowale, Bimbo, they all brought their curtains. Sola Sobowale brought her freezer because we were living in the village,’ he said.
The experience, he said, made him realise that the situation could not continue, particularly because he intended to undertake more productions in similar locations.
‘Then I said to myself, this cannot be because this is not going to be a one-off, so we can’t continue to live like that. We need to start building accommodation and we started.’
Afolayan said the initiative has since grown beyond solving the immediate accommodation problem, with the film village now boasting about 100 rooms and attracting visitors.
‘Now, we have about a hundred rooms in the film village. It’s now a destination.’