Nollywood has achieved a new global milestone after Black Market, a crime thriller, broke the Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening in one location.
A record 51,000 people watched the movie on Saturday at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos. Movie lovers started arriving from about 2 pm, with long queues forming before the screening began around 7 pm.
Guinness World Records later confirmed the 51,000 figure, explaining that only people who watched the film from start to finish were counted.
The confirmation came after Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, earlier announced that 64,000 people attended. The official result brought cheers, celebrations and fireworks at the venue.
Organisers had aimed for 50,000 viewers to beat the previous record of 43,624, set by Iglesia Ni Cristo during a screening of Felix Manalo at The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines, on October 4, 2015.
Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson, attended the event alongside Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
Black Market was produced with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production. Fatimah Binta Gimsay directed the film and co-wrote it with Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.
The story follows five women involved in cross-border smuggling whose lives change after one woman’s daughter is kidnapped.
Gimsay had earlier said breaking the world record was the goal of the project.
