Nigerian filmmakers Toyin Abraham, Niyi Akinmolayan and Ini Edo have accused some cinema operators of sabotaging their films through practices they describe as unfair and harmful.
The film makers alleged that certain cinemas deliberately mark films as sold out, limit them to a single screening per day, or allocate inconvenient showtimes that reduce audience timeout and box office returns.
Speaking about her latest movie, Oversabi Aunty, Toyin Abraham said the film has been pushed aside in all cinemas negatively affecting it’s performance and revenue.
“They sell another ticket to people and take them to my movie hall,” she said, alleging that cinemas deliberately fix her film for early morning and late-night slots, which she said hurt its commercial performance.
“Some cinemas will give you 10 am and 9 pm. A 10 am showtime, how do you expect it to sell?” she asked.
Also raising concerns, filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan, whose movie Colours of Fire is currently showing, accused some operators of collecting ticket money without screening the film as advertised.
He warned that he would expose those involved if the situation persisted.
“If by end of day you don’t fix up, I am going to name all the cinemas that have Colors of Fire on their website, collected money from people and are refusing to show them the film,” he said.
Ini Edo, who is producing a film for the first time, also shared her frustration over her experience. She shared videos on Instagram showing moviegoers complaining about alleged misconduct by cinema operators, describing the process as emotionally exhausting despite the efforts and resources invested in her project.
She wrote, “Nigerian cinemas, this has been exhausting. As a first-timer, I learned on the go with humility and commitment, yet faced intentional frustration despite the sacrifice and investment poured into this project. But God is bigger than every barrier, bigger than gatekeeping and intimidation”.
The allegations have once again sparked debate over how cinemas screen time is allocated, particularly during the busy December period, which is widely regarded as the most competitive season in the Nigerian movie industry.
