Hello music lovers, it’s another Wednesday dedicated to the celebration of exceptional Nigerian women throughout the month of March. We will be shining the spotlight on a Nigerian female filmmaker. Our focus today is on Kemi Adetiba, a household name in the Nigerian Movie and Media Industry. You can read the first and second articles from our Women series here.
Kemi Adetiba is an award-winning media personality, producer, director and cinematographer. She is the founder of Kemi Adetiba visuals and President of K-Alpha Innovations, a production company which specialises in directing music videos. Born to Mayen and Dele Adetiba on the 8th of Jan, 1980. She got introduced to the media industry as a young child accompanying her father, a radio DJ to events. She also headlined commercials for detergent brand, OMO at an early age. She graduated from the department of Law, University of Lagos in 2005. She would move further to study film making at the New York Film Academy in 2007 after some years spent presenting and producing on TV.
Starting her career with Rhythm FM as a radio presenter, she was the voice behind Soul’d Out and Sundays at the Seaside: two nationally syndicated hit shows. She transitioned from radio to television presenting and producing several shows on Mnet. She was also a presenter for Maltina Dance All for 3 consecutive seasons, HipHop World Awards, Soundcity TV.
Music videos she has directed includes; Banky W’s Lagos Party, Follow you go, Waje’s Onye, Niyola’s Love to Love you ft. Banky W, Toh Bad, Last Bus stop, Tiwa Savage’s My Darling, Wizkid’s Tease Me, Dagrin’s If I Die and a host of many others.
Kemi Adetiba’s short film Across a Bloodied Ocean was screened at the 2009 Pan African Film Festival and National Black Arts Festival.
On 8 September 2016, Kemi Adetiba’s first feature film “The Wedding Party” (a Nigerian Rom-com film) premiered opening night, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), as the opening film of the City-to-City Spotlight and on the 26th of November at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos. It quickly became the highest grossing film, a record which was broken in 2017 by its sequel.
In 2017 she was presenting the show “King Women” where she interviewed her mother Mayen Adetiba. Other former “King Women” included Chigurl, Ty Bello, Taiwo AjaiLycett and Tara Durotoye.
Her political crime thriller, King of Boys (2018) grossed 245 million naira at Box Office. King of Boys became the Nigerian film with the highest number of awards at 2019 AMAA. The film got nine nominations and won three, which are NFVCB Best Nigerian Film, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Some of the awards her works have won include Best Female Video for the song “Ekundayo” by TY Bello at the Soundcity TV Music Video Awards. Kemi was nominated for Best Music Video Director of the Year at The Headies 2014. She won the City People Entertainment Award for Best Music Video Director Of The Year (2015) and a HNWOTY Award for Woman of the Year in Film and Television (2017).
We celebrate this pioneering woman director and film maker for her talent, versatility anddedication to telling our unique African stories globally. By the way, KOB 2 is soon to hit our screens. It is easily the most anticipated Nigerian movie right now.
