[VIDEO] Nollywood Black Market enters Guinness World Records after attracting 51,000 viewers at Lagos screening
Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has entered the Guinness World Records (GWR) after 51,000 people watched the film at a single-location screening in Lagos.
The screening took place on Saturday evening at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), attracting thousands of movie enthusiasts to the venue.
Attendees began arriving as early as 2pm, with long queues forming around TBS throughout the day. The main screening commenced at about 7pm.
The Guinness World Records officially confirmed the achievement after the screening, recognising 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance for the record.
The confirmation followed an earlier announcement by Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos deputy governor, who said 64,000 people attended the event.
GWR, however, clarified that its qualifying figure was based on viewers who stayed from the beginning until the end of the film.
The announcement was met with cheers, celebrations and fireworks from the crowd.
Organisers had set a target of 50,000 simultaneous viewers in an attempt to break the previous record of 43,624 people.
The previous record was achieved by Iglesia Ni Cristo during a screening of ‘Felix Manalo’ at The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines, on October 4, 2015.
The event was attended by Toke Benson, commissioner for tourism, arts and culture, as well as Nollywood actors including Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
The film was 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 disrupted 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 previously told TheCable Lifestyle in an interview that breaking the world record was the goal she and her team had set for themselves.