Award-winning Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has entered a major international partnership with the Benin Republic, signing a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with the Société de Productions Audiovisuelles (SOPA) on Thursday 19 February 2026 in Lagos.
The agreement positions Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan Productions as strategic partners in Benin's efforts to develop a globally competitive film ecosystem.
Central to the partnership is the planned co-production of a large-scale Orisha/Vodun-themed television series. The project will merge Nigerian and Beninese cultural narratives, drawing from shared spiritual traditions to create a story designed for international audiences. Producers say the series will employ advanced production techniques, including the innovative use of artificial intelligence for pre-visualisation, virtual environments, visual effects, and story development.
The signing ceremony took place at the KAP Hub in Lagos with a high-level delegation from Benin led by Sinatou Saka (Special Adviser to the President for Arts & Culture). Other delegates included Coline-Lee Toumson-Venite (Special Adviser for Arts and Culture), Bassirou Ndiaye (CEO, SOPA S.A), and Faissol Gnonlonfin (Director of Cinema and Audiovisual).
Afolayan described the collaboration as "a defining moment for African cinema, where visionary leadership, cultural authenticity, and creative enterprise converge to project our stories, our people, and our creative strength to the world in the most compelling way."
The delegation toured KAP Group's state-of-the-art production hub in Lagos and the KAP Film Village & Resort in Igbojaye-Komu, Oyo State, from 19–22 February 2026. His expanded KAP Group oversees the KAP Film & Television Academy and the KAP Film Village & Resort, both designed to train talent and support large-scale productions.
The partnership represents a significant step towards promoting Pan-African creative collaboration and represents two concrete intra-African co-production stacks (Nigeria–Benin and Nigeria–Ghana via the Anikulapo shoot extension to Cape Coast) driven by private operators rather than state-led treaties.
Source: channelstv.com