Nollywood movie star Omotola Jalade Ekeinde has described as disrespectful Leila Djansi’s suggestion that aligning with Nollywood is like associating with ‘Hitler’.
The actress said she felt US-based Ghanaian movie director’s comments were in bad taste and Nigerians are really offended by them.
Leila Djansi said in a documentary that, “I don’t think those people; this crop of filmmakers shouldn't be put under the umbrella of Nollywood. They should be put under independent film producers because the name carries a lot. If you start tagging it Nollywood, every negative connotation that comes with Nollywood affects you, it is like calling your son ‘Hitler’.”
Some known faces in the Nigerian industry including Stella Damasus, Kate Henshaw and Omotola Jalade Ekeinde are not happy with Liela’s comments and urged her to apologise.
In an exclusive interview with Hitz News, actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde said Leila did not express herself with the right choice of words.
“It was sent to me by another film maker, I am not very sure of when that was recorded but I saw some clips of what she said and I just felt it was very disrespectful, she might have meant something else maybe or she just did not express herself with the right choice of words.”
She noted that “Nigerians are very unhappy about it and that’s why I have advised her to apologise especially for somebody who constantly works with Nollywood actors.”
Nollywood is the second biggest film producer in the world. The film industry, is now priced at $5 billion and makes more films than Hollywood in the U.S.
The actress, who featured in Leila's movie, ‘Ties That Bind’, believes that Nollywood is the biggest movie industry in Africa and therefore, no one can go against them irrespective of however they feel.
“As a film-maker, if you feel like somethings are not right, what you ought to do is to correct that with your work.”
The actress and reality TV star added that, “You did not start Nollywood and you can’t end it. It’s just as simple as that.”