FirstBank’s Sponsored Movie, ‘Ayinla’, Premieres June 13 In Lagos

<p><em>FirstBank’s Sponsored<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that FirstBank of Nigeria Limited announces its lead sponsorship of the movie titled &OpenCurlyQuote;Ayinla’&comma; which is billed to premiere on Sunday&comma; 13 June 2020&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The movie is suspense-driven&comma; narrating the life of Ayinla Yusuf&comma; popularly known as Ayinla Omowura &lpar;an Apala musician&rpar;&comma; his rise to fame&comma; his identity&comma; the depth of his craft and music&comma; and the basis for his relevance after his tragic death forty years ago as a result of a stab from his manager&comma; Bayewu&comma; during a bar fight on the 6th of May&comma; 1980 in Abeokuta&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Ayinla is directed by multiple award-winning and globally acclaimed Nigerian filmmaker and director&comma; Tunde Kelani&comma; and produced by Jadesola Osiberu&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to Tunde Kelani&comma; filmmaker and founder&comma; Mainframe Opomulero Productions&comma;” the making of Ayinla allows us to throw a glance over our shoulders to our often-neglected intangible heritage&period; Nigeria is blessed with huge cultural diversity and locked away are thousands of stories we can share with a global audience&period; FirstBank&&num;8217&semi;s partnership with us at this stage is not a mere coincidence&comma; owing to its over hundred years of historical contribution in unlocking the huge potentials in Nigeria which can offer continental and global audiences”&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;With the sponsorship of similar socio-cultural initiatives in the creative arts industry like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">Moremi&comma; Makaliki<&sol;a>&comma; Oba Esugbayi stage drama&comma; October 1st &lpar;a movie&rpar; and the Calabar Festival&period; The Bank&&num;8217&semi;s sponsorship of &&num;8216&semi;Ayinla&&num;8217&semi; affirms the Bank’s support for the development of arts in Nigeria under its First&commat;arts initiative&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;First&commat;arts is FirstBank’s platform for consolidating all its efforts in the arts&comma; supporting the entire value chain of the creative arts&comma; providing much-needed financing and advisory support&comma; showcasing and facilitating the successes of the industry&comma; and enabling customers to explore and access the wealth of opportunities the creative industry has to offer&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Achieving these and a host of many others have been implemented through strategic partnerships with organizations like the British Council&comma; Duke of Shomolu Productions&comma; Live Theatre Lagos&comma; Freedom Park&comma; Terra Kulture&comma; and the Cross Rivers State Government &lpar;Calabar Festival&rpar;&comma; amongst many others&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Ayinla appeals to a multifaceted audience that cuts across fans of highlife and afrobeat music&comma; the youth&comma; and the elite Yoruba demography&period; It features some of Nollywood’s favorite stars including Adedimeji Lateef who played the role of Ayinla Omowura&comma; Kunle Afolayan&comma; Bimbo Ademoye&comma; Mr&period; Macaroni&comma; Omowunmi Dada&comma; Ade Laoye&comma; Jumoke Otedola&comma; and Bimbo Manuel&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Speaking on the movie&comma; Jadesola Osiberu&comma; Movie Producer &amp&semi; Founder&comma; Greoh Studios said&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Working with the great Tunde Kelani is something I have wanted to do for a long time&comma; and I am so glad that we were able to do it on a project like Ayinla&period; This collaboration was an interesting experience&comma; and I am glad everyone finally gets to see the film we made in the cinemas nationwide from 18 June 2021&period; I’d like to thank the management of First Bank of Nigeria Limited for choosing to come on this journey with us&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Expressing her delight on the movie&comma; Folake Ani-Mumuney&comma; Group Head&comma; Marketing &amp&semi; Corporate Communications&comma; FirstBank said&semi; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;For over 127 years&comma; FirstBank has been at the forefront of nation-building&semi; enabling Nigeria and Nigerians through resourceful partnerships to build the Nigerian creative industry value chain&comma; especially the arts and entertainment sub-sectors&period; We remain proud of this sponsorship that creates an excellent platform to showcase Nigeria to the world as being part of a collective goal to continually keep dreams and hope alive&semi; holding strong to our commitment to reignite cultural heritage&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Without a doubt&comma; the movie industry remains part of the creative and entertainment industry value-chain across the globe and indeed a powerful channel to drive our heritage and culture&comma; which resonates with our legacy of being woven into the fabric of society&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to research disclosed in PWC’s recent Entertainment &amp&semi; Media Outlook report&comma; Nigeria’s entertainment is expected to rise from &dollar;4&period;46 billion in 2018 to a &dollar;10&period;5 billion market by the end of 2023&period; In addition&comma; with this initiative and other sponsored event&comma; FirstBank is committed to strengthening its contribution to the development of the entertainment industry in the country&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;