Black Market, the Nollywood crime thriller, has made it into the Guinness World Records (GWR) for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single location, with about 51,000 people watching the movie in Lagos.
The screening of the film happened on Saturday evening, attracting thousands of film followers to the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
People started gathering as early as 2pm, with long queues forming around TBS throughout the day as movie lovers arrived for the event. The main screening began at about 7pm.
The Guinness World Record book confirmed the historic achievement of the screening, officially recognising 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance for the record.
This came after deputy governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, made an announcement hat 64,000 people attended the event.
The British reference book, however, explained that the qualifying figure was based on viewers who remained from the starting to the finale of the movie.
The announcement attracted loud cheers, celebrations and fireworks from the crowd.
Organisers had targeted 50,000 simultaneous viewers, aspiring to surpass the past record of 43,624 people, attained by Iglesia Ni Cristo for their film ‘Felix Manalo’ at The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines, on October 4, 2015.
The event was attended by the commissioner for tourism, arts and culture, Toke Benson and Nollywood stars comprising 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 racket, whose lives are plunged into turbulence after the kidnapping of one of their daughters.
The cast comprises Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Itele D Icon and Uzor Arukwe.
