Akinkugbe hails Afolayan ‘citation’ for winning global laurel

Nigerian ambassador to Greece, Opunimi Akinkugbe, has congratulated filmmaker and director, Kunle Afolayan, for winning the Best International Film category of the just concluded National Film Festival (NFA) in the United Kingdom with his film ‘Citation’.

Afolayan and ‘Citation’ are well known to the ambassador, because in the recently concluded film festival organised by the Nollywood Travel Film Festival (NTFF) in collaboration with the Nigerian Embassy in Greece, held in Athens, Greece, Afolayan and ‘Citation’ made a lasting expression on the Nigerian-Greece audience.

“Congratulations to Kunle Afolayan and the cast and crew of ‘Citation’ for winning the award of the Best International Film at the National Film Awards,” Akinkugbe said. “‘Citation’ was part of the official selection of the Athens edition of the Nollywood Travel Film Festival, held from 26 – 29th May, 2022.”

Speaking about the win, elated Afolayan said he and the entire production team of ‘Citation’ did not see the award coming and that they are grateful for the support and recognition of the public and the organisers.

“I am glad we got recognised without even lobbying,’ Afolayan added.

‘Citation’ premiered on Netflix on October 31, 2020.

The 151-minute film follows a young university student embroiled in a sexual assault scandal involving her lecturer. The film sparked discussions around sex-for-grades in Nigerian universities.

Recently, while speaking about the film, Afolayan noted that its essence was to create awareness on the different forms of violence against women and girls in public and private spheres.