I Planned To Film A Tribe Called Judah 2 – Funke Akindele

Award-winning Nigerian filmmaker, Funke Akindele, has said that the holy spirit told her not to work on a sequel for “A Tribe Called Judah.” She recently revealed that divine instruction completely altered her initial production plans.

Speaking at the FilmOne End-of-Year Exhibitor Showcase, Funke shared that she had originally planned to start filming part 2 of the blockbuster project before she was spiritually directed to make a different film.

According to her, despite drafting and attempting four other scripts, and even going as far as considering several collaborations, the holy spirit kept warning her to abandon the project.

“We weren’t supposed to release Behind The Scenes. I actually wanted to release A Tribe Called Judah 2. We had started rehearsals and negotiations, but the Spirit of God kept telling me, ‘No, you will not shoot that film.’

We tried almost four other scripts, lovely ones, but the Spirit of God said, ‘You are joking’. We even wanted to partner with another filmmaker, but He said, ‘You’re wasting your time. You will shoot this film.’” she said.

Funke further noted that her new movie, titled “Behind The Scenes”, was inspired by a single scene that resonated deeply with her.

Describing the scene as relatable and reflective of real-life experiences, she stressed that the project passes a deep message that Nigerians will learn a lot from.

“A lot of people are going through what happens in this movie. The inspiration just came, and I knew this was the story I was meant to tell,” she added.

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.