Africa’s highest-grossing filmmaker Funke Akindele generated more than 2 billion naira, roughly $1.6 million, with her 2025 release Behind the Scenes
, making it the first Nollywood film to cross that financial threshold.
The movie The Four: No One Fights Alone
tells the story of four strong women who fiercely fight for the future of a young man they love. It follows cultural themes consistent with her approach to storytelling.
Facebook Partners for Global Premieres
Facebook has partnered with Funke Akindele to promote Nigerian storytelling through the London and Lagos premieres of The Four: No One Fights Alone.
Akindele announced the collaboration on her Facebook pages and verified Instagram account, stating that the partnership will help take the film to a wider audience.
Meta’s Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa, Oluwasola Obagbemi, said the collaboration demonstrates how Facebook helps creators connect with fans and build communities around shared interests.
The partnership will shine a spotlight on Nigerian creators at home. It will also feature them in the diaspora.
A creator-hosted space will appear at the premieres. It will showcase how creators use Facebook to engage younger audiences and share Nigerian stories and culture with people around the world.
Box Office Milestones and Production Scale
Akindele earned the distinction of being Africa’s most commercially successful filmmaker following the 2025 release of Behind the Scenes.
She is the first African filmmaker whose films topped the Nigerian box office for three consecutive years.
Her 2023 comedy-drama A Tribe Called Judah
was the first Nollywood movie to make 1 billion naira at the box office, amounting to more than $745,000. That film tells the story of five brothers with different fathers who rob a store to save their sick mother, a character played by Akindele. She has noted that she wrote the screenplay without sugarcoating, drawing inspiration from real-life experiences and societal judgments.
Her 2024 film Everybody Loves Jenifa
stands as her most expensive film to date. Akindele made her first movie to play in Nigerian theaters back in 2011 with the sequel The Return of Jenifa.
Distribution Barriers and Global Collaboration
Akindele notes that filmmakers in Africa still face hurdles, specifically identifying distribution as a major barrier.
Akindele is an actress. She also works as a producer.
Akindele works as a writer and director. She emphasizes that her storytelling aims to show societal realities and help young people believe in themselves. By crafting narratives that maintain global standards, her work reaches wider international audiences.