Throwback: Remembering Kunle Afolayan's October 1

Set in Colonial Nigeria, Kunle Afolayan's October 1 narrates the story of Danladi Waziri (Sadiq Daba), a police officer from Northern Nigeria who is posted to the remote town of Akote in Western Nigeria to investigate the frequent female murder cases in the community, and have the mystery solved before the Nigerian flag is raised on October 1, Nigeria's Independence Day.

The film's production design is absolutely stunning. From the costumes, antique props such as cars used in that era and household items like television sets and all sorts and the color grading.

Apart from exploring the primary theme independence, it also sheds light on topics including homosexuality, tribalism and illiteracy. These themes amongst others serve as another basis that solidifies the film's hold on many audiences.

There's a lot of reasons to like the film: the cast members, the production design, the cinematography. All of these are top notch. The only thing lagging to an extent, is the storytelling

Morayo Ayoade, an audience member, said: "...the casting is the best I have seen so far in "Nollywood". It is an amalgamation of old and new faces with a well-developed skill-set. It features veterans like Sadiq Daba and Kayode Aderupoko who are well known prolific actors in Nigeria. The scripting of the movie could have been better as it affected the dialogue, the use of flashback technique is not well executed as one could not really tell what was going on without putting much thought into it. A lot of thought was put into production as the picture is top quality and the post production is detailed, the music used also helps to depict the time frame portrayed in this movie. I don't want to give out any spoilers but i would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in having surface knowledge about Nigeria before its independence"

The film shines because of its boldness; it is able to create a powerful discussion because of the themes it takes on: religion, ethnic rifts, corruption, abuse, pain and privilege.

October 1 builds up slowly, but surely builds towards powerful scenes and an inescapable conclusion. The film is filled with humor that will provoke riotous laughter and also a very thrilling ride.

The film won three awards at the 2014 Africa International Film Festival, including the awards for "Best Feature Film", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Actor" for Sadiq Daba; October 1 was the film with most awards at the event. It also bagged 9 awards out of 12 nominations at the 2015 AMVCA