Precious Nwonu, Enugu

Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has set a Guinness World Record after 51,000 people watched the film at a single-location screening at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

The record-breaking screening was held on Saturday, September 26, as thousands of movie lovers gathered at the Lagos venue for the film’s premiere.

Guinness World Records recognised 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance, surpassing the previous record of 43,624 people who watched the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena in the Philippines in 2015.

The figure recognised by the record body was lower than the total crowd at the venue. Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat had put the attendance at about 64,000, but the Guinness count was based on viewers who remained for the required duration of the screening.

The achievement sparked celebrations at TBS, with cheers and fireworks following the announcement.

Organisers had targeted at least 50,000 simultaneous viewers for the screening, which was designed to break the 43,624 benchmark. The official event programme stated that the gates opened at 2pm, while the film was scheduled to run from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Long queues formed around the venue before the screening as movie lovers arrived for the event, which also featured music, games, food and other entertainment activities.

The event attracted government officials and several Nollywood personalities, including Hamzat, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Toke Benson, Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Gabriel Afolayan, Kunle Afolayan, Stan Nze and other members of the Nigerian film industry.

Black Market was directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and co-written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.

The film centres on five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation whose activities 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, Ibrahim Yekini, popularly known as Itele D Icon, and Uzor Arukwe.

The project was produced through Rixel Studios, in collaboration with Signet Ring Studios, Switch Visuals Production and FilmOne Studios. Plans for the record attempt had been announced months before the premiere, with the filmmakers targeting 50,000 people at TBS.

The previous Guinness World Record of 43,624 people was established on October 4, 2015, when Felix Manalo was screened at the Philippine Arena. Guinness World Records lists the same attendance as the record for both the largest attendance at a film screening and the largest audience at a film premiere.

With the latest achievement, *lBlack Market has moved the record to Nigeria, giving Nollywood another international milestone.