Black Market, the Nollywood crime thriller, has entered the Guinness World Records (GWR) for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single location, with 51,000 people watching the movie in Lagos.
The film screening took place on Saturday evening, drawing thousands of movie lovers to the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
Crowds began gathering as early as 2pm, with long queues forming around TBS throughout the day as attendees arrived for the event. The main screening got underway at about 7pm.
The British reference book confirmed the feat after the screening, officially recognising 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance for the record.
This was after Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos deputy governor, had announced that 64,000 people attended the event.
The GWR, however, clarified that the qualifying figure was based on viewers who remained from the beginning to the end of the movie.
The announcement drew loud cheers, celebrations and fireworks from the crowd.
Organisers had targeted 50,000 simultaneous viewers, aiming to surpass the previous record of 43,624 people, achieved by Iglesia Ni Cristo for their film ‘Felix Manalo’ at The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines, on 4 October 2015.
The event was attended by the commissioner for tourism, arts and culture, Toke Benson and Nollywood stars including Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
The film is produced in collaboration with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production
Directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and co-written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed, ‘Black Market’ follows five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation whose lives are thrown into turmoil after the daughter of one of them is kidnapped.
The cast includes Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Itele D Icon and Uzor Arukwe.
Gimsay had disclosed in an interview with TheCable Lifestyle that breaking the world record was the goal she and her team set for themselves.
