Nollywood breaks Guinness World Record as 51,000 people watch Black Market movie screening in Lagos

• 51,000 people watched Black Market from beginning to end at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.

• The screening surpassed the previous record of 43,624 viewers set in the Philippines in 2015.

• About 64,000 people reportedly attended the event, but Guinness counted 51,000 qualifying viewers.

Nollywood has made history as more than 51,000 people gathered at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos to watch one film together.

The record-breaking film is Black Market, a crime thriller directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay.

The screening took place on Saturday, September 26, as the filmmakers attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the largest audience at a film screening in a single location, and they did it.

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

Interestingly, the crowd at TBS was even bigger than the final record figure. Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat reportedly put total attendance at about 64,000. 

However, Guinness' qualifying figure was based on people who remained at the screening from the beginning of the movie until the end. The announcement triggered cheers and fireworks at the venue.

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The event was designed to feel more like a festival than an ordinary movie premiere. The gates opened at 2 pm, followed by a red-carpet session around 3 pm, while the main screening was scheduled for 7 pm. Music, food and games also formed part of the programme, with long queues reported around TBS as movie lovers arrived.

Black Market follows five women caught up in a cross-border smuggling operation during a period of fuel scarcity and economic pressure. Their situation becomes more complicated when the daughter of one of the women is kidnapped.

The film stars Lateef Adedimeji, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Ibrahim Yekini, popularly known as Itele D Icon, and Uzor Arukwe, among others. It was written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.

The record attempt was not a last-minute publicity stunt. The organisers had announced the plan months earlier, initially targeting 50,000 viewers.

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The project brought together Rixel Studios, FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production, with support from the Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and several corporate partners.

For a film industry that has spent years taking Nigerian stories to increasingly larger audiences, Black Market has now turned one of those audiences itself into part of the story.