Although the festive season is over, and the holidays have begun rounding up, a spill over hasn’t ever hurt anyone. And that’s why this article is serving up 6 different facts from the Netflix’s first Nollywood production, A Naija Christmas. the first Nigerian Christmas movie on Netflix’s list.
If you are yet to see the movie, you could head to Netflix and watch it now.
A plus is for you to watch it with these discoveries in mind.
The movie centers around the typical Nigerian mother’s wish before death- To see her children get married, and become a Granny. The clock is ticking for three brothers who are searching for suitable wives they can bring home for Christmas to impress their strict mother. While they scramble to fall in love, their mom is on a mission to put together an over-the-top holiday bash.
Here are some facts about the chrChrist themed production.
The entire production process of the movie spanned the duration of 6 months.
Photo from Netflix.
Kunle Afolayan read the script and fell, almost immediately, in love with the script writer, Kemi Adesoye’s woven words.
Photo from Netflix.
Despite the filming duration, the cast and crew explored 13 different locations in Lagos for the sake of filming.
Photo from Netflix.
For most of the songs used in the movie, Director Kunle Afolayan wrote them.
Photo from Netflix.
For most of the lead actors, it was the first time working with the director, and vice versa.
Photo from Netflix.
Efa Iwara who plays Obi shares with Guardian life, “I think I auditioned without ever auditioning,” he reveals.
“Mr Kunle and I met up at a show I was hosting. We hadn’t met before; we had a conversation, spoke a bit, I talked to a few people and hosted the show. He met me backstage and said, ‘Yo! I’m working on this movie, and I think you’ll be perfect for Obi. Are you in or are you out?’ I said I’m in, showed up at the reading, and the rest is history.”
For Abayomi Alvin, who plays Chike, working with Kunle Afolayn is a “dream come true”. A dream that dates back to Afolayan’s film tour for Figurine in 2009, long before he (Abayomi) ever thought of acting professionally. Getting cast in A Naija Christmas came as a surprise. “Honestly, when I got the role, I never expected it. It’s not even one of those things you say ‘I knew I was going to get it.’ When I saw the brief, I said I don’t even fit this guy like that, so why would they pick me?”
Photo from Netflix.
About 4 days to the end of the shoot in July 2021, the actress who played Mother- Rachel Oniga, died. News outlets had it that she died due to heart problems. Because this happened before filming was completed, some parts of the script had to be rewritten.
If you haven’t seen the movie, now could be a good time to do so.