Our Films Are for Thinkers” —Kunle Afolayan Defends ‘Anikulapo’ Amid Mixed Reactions

<h4>&&num;8220&semi;Our Films Are for Thinkers&&num;8221&semi; —Kunle Afolayan Defends &OpenCurlyQuote;Anikulapo&&num;8217&semi; Amid Mixed Reactions<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that Nollywood director Kunle Afolayan has addressed the mixed reactions to his newest Netflix series&comma; Anikulapo&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Ghoul Awakens&comma; emphasizing that his storytelling is meant for audiences who enjoy layered&comma; thought-provoking narratives rather than mainstream entertainment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The five-part series&comma; which debuted on Netflix on January 30&comma; is the third installment following his 2022 award-winning film Anikulapo&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While some viewers have expressed confusion over its plot&comma; Afolayan took to Instagram on Tuesday to explain his creative intent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Something that is very peculiar to the kind of films that we make is that we make films for the intellectual&period; We make films for people who can think&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I don’t expect that everybody would like the film or understand the film&period; But I expect that the people I am trying to appeal to would get it&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Afolayan pointed to his previous works&comma; including Irapada and The Figurine&comma; as examples of projects that initially faced skepticism but later received international acclaim&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He urged viewers and critics to hold off judgment until the entire series is available&comma; drawing parallels to globally popular shows like Game of Thrones&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I have read feedback from scholars&comma; professors&comma; and deep thinkers&comma; and I appreciate them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To those who don’t fully get it&comma; let me put it in simple terms&colon; the series has multiple episodes&comma; and what you have seen so far is only a portion&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;How can you conclude that the story is disjointed when you haven’t even seen the full series&quest;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Afolayan continued&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;When you watch series like Game of Thrones&comma; you wait for new episodes each week&period; You don’t see the whole story at once&comma; yet you don’t dismiss it&period; We’ve created new plots here&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Those who understand literature and storytelling already get it&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;For those who don’t&comma; it’s okay to ask someone who does&period; Our films are for those who engage with the story critically and thoughtfully&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>His remarks underline a clear mission&colon; Afolayan is committed to producing cinematic works that reward careful attention and critical engagement rather than simply chasing mass-market appeal&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;