Black Market Breaks Guinness World Record In Lagos
Nollywood crime thriller, Black Market, has made history by entering the Guinness World Records for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single venue, with 51,000 people watching the movie in Lagos.
The record-breaking screening was held on Saturday evening at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, which was filled to capacity with movie lovers.
The attendees began trooping in as early as 2pm, with long queues stretching around TBS hours before the event. The screening officially commenced at about 7pm.
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The feat was confirmed by Guinness World Records after the show, with the body certifying 51,000 viewers as the official qualifying attendance.
This came shortly after the Lagos Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, had announced that 64,000 people were present at the venue.
However, GWR explained that the qualifying figure was based on the number of viewers who stayed from the start to the end of the film.
The announcement was met with loud cheers, jubilation and a display of fireworks from the excited crowd.
The organisers had set a target of 50,000 simultaneous viewers to overtake the previous record of 43,624, set by Iglesia Ni Cristo for their film ‘Felix Manalo’ at The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines, on October 4, 2015.
The historic event had in attendance the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson, alongside Nollywood stars such as Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
Black Market was produced in collaboration with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production.
Directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and co-written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed, the film tells the story of five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation whose lives spiral into chaos after one of their daughters is kidnapped.
The movie features a star-studded cast including Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Itele D Icon and Uzor Arukwe.
Speaking in an interview with TheCable Lifestyle ahead of the screening, Gimsay revealed that breaking the world record was a deliberate target set by her team.
