Lateef Adedimeji, a renowned Nollywood actor and producer, put tremendous effort into his latest film, Lisabi, and his hard work paid off when Netflix purchased and acquired the rights to the film.
However, after its release on the global streaming platform, viewers quickly noticed that the movie was only available to audiences in Africa, sparking discussions among fans.
In contrast to what Lateef Adedimeji and the fans had anticipated, Lisabi did not get a broad (international) distribution. As you might imagine, that has now resulted in several emails from fans to Lateef and from Lateef to Netflix that are puzzled and upset.
Here’s what Lateef Adedimeji told The Nation about the whole thing during a new interview.
During the interview, when asked “How does it feel that the movie is NOT on the international scene?” Lateef Adedimeji revealed saying:
LATEEF ADEDIMEJI: I think that is what we’re still working on. I have sent a series of emails to Netflix because it’s supposed to be a global release. So why they released it in Africa and not in the global world yet is what we don’t know. I’m sure from our mails and from a lot of people that have mailed them and asked
them questions, I’m sure they should be able to give a reply to whatever. People are very angry, and I wrote to them and told them “this movie is not just for Africa. It’s our story. The global world needs to see the story. And we have a lot of Nigerians in the diaspora that really want the story.” People were even swearing for me and I was like, “I’m not a streaming platform.”
“You mean the audience took it personal?”
LATEEF ADEDIMEJI: My mail is full of “What nonsense are you doing?” It’s just normal. I know that’s because there’s been a lot of excellent reviews. And then it’s painful to them that they are seeing this review and they can’t get to watch. So it’s just normal for that to happen, which is fine, so it’s not a problem. I’m sure they’ll work on it, and then they will do the needful.
Oh wow! I actually hope this is sorted out as I’m sure Lateef and his fans were expecting and would have loved a global release for the film. After all his hustle to get it done, I truly hope Netflix does right by him sooner rather than later.