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Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions, on Friday, November 19, 2021, announced that it had secured the rights to produce a Biopic on the legendary Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti from the Estate of FRK.
To be directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters, the movie has cameo appearances by Funmilayo’s grandchildren representing their parents. With a working title ‘FUNMILAYO; THE LIONESS OF LISABI’, the film is intended to hit the big screen in 2022/23.
Bolanle Austen-Peters, renowned for producing multiple award-winning movies like ’93 DAYS’, ‘Man enough’, is the director of the blockbuster high grossing film ‘The Bling Lagosians’.
Her recent movie ‘Collision Course’ was selected as the closing film at the just concluded as 10th Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), outshining more than 4,000 movies from over 100 countries and
According to Bolanle Austen-Peters, “having directed the stage version of the story of great women such as “QUEEN MOREMI”, “OLURONBI” AND “FELA AND THE KALAKUTA QUEENS” (the story of the 27 women that danced and married Fela Ransome Kuti), which is presently acquired by STER Kinekor and being aired as a screenplay in cinemas across South Africa; I am interested in telling the story of this phenomenal woman, Funmilayo.
She was a woman with many parts and was first in many things. She was the first girl to attend an all-boys school, first woman to drive a car in western Nigeria, a political activist who fought for the rights of women, first woman to found a political party, confronted traditional and colonial authorities in unprecedented mass protests. Apart from these, she was a loving wife and mother who raised four successful children, among whom is Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the legendary Afrobeat singer.
“This is an inspirational story. We need positive role modelling for young African women and the world at large. At BAP Productions, we believe in telling uniquely African stories. This is a story of a brave and courageous woman, a leader, an activist and a family woman,” a statement by BAP said.
“FUNMILAYO; LIONESS OF LISABI is following the success of other productions from the stables of Bolanle Austen-Peters Production, including 93 Days which was screened at several international film festivals including, Toronto International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, San Francisco Film Festival, African Film Festival Cologne and Johannesburg Film Festival, winning an award at the festival in Los Angeles.
“The Bling Lagosians which was credited as being one of the top-grossing films of 2019, and also acknowledged by Netflix as one of the films whose performance ignited their interest in Nigeria and the successful production of two more films; Collision Course and MOG(Man of God) that have started garnering awards.”
In celebration of Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary in October 2020, Funmilayo, a UK-trained teacher and activist, was featured in ‘Neusroom Untold‘, a collection of more than 70 stories about important people, places and events that have shaped Nigeria’s history.
Neusroom.com said she was one of the women whose activities shaped and redefined feminism in Nigeria from 1930 up till early 1990.
The post The Lioness Of Lisabi: Bolanle Austen-Peters Secures Rights To Produce Funmilayo Ransome Kuti’s Biopic appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
Source: TheNet
