'Not Every Film is Cinema-Worthy' - Kunle Remi

Nigerian actor Kunle Remi, best known for his role in the Netflix series "Anikulapo," recently shared his candid thoughts on what makes a movie truly cinema-worthy.

In an interview with Hiptv News, Remi emphasized that not all films labeled as cinematic deserve to be shown in cinemas, highlighting a prevalent confusion between TV-quality films and true cinematic experiences among both audiences and filmmakers.

"Not everybody understands what cinema is. I don’t think a lot of people understand it in the first place, that is why you have a low-budget film put in the cinemas when it’s not even cinema-worthy," Remi stated.

He pointed out that many filmmakers mistakenly believe their TV-quality productions are suitable for the big screen, leading to a dilution of cinematic standards.

Remi praised Kunle Afolayan, the director of "Anikulapo," as an example of a filmmaker who consistently delivers high-quality cinematic projects. "Kunle Afolayan, for example, does cinema if you look at the quality of his project, the style and effort put into it are cinema.

If he does TV films, he might not do so great because he is probably focused or trained to do cinema films," he explained.

As an experienced actor, Remi mentioned his ability to identify rushed and poorly executed films, even when they are marketed as cinema-worthy. "TV films are maybe cable films or online TVs and you can tell this was done in 5 days. I’m an actor and I can tell. Sometimes I’m doing a film and they tell me, it’s for the cinemas and I laugh. I know I’m not supposed to but, it's funny," he said.

Despite his critical stance, Remi encouraged emerging filmmakers to accept constructive criticism and use it as a learning opportunity. "

I can’t discourage anyone cos it might be a starting point for some people. Do not be angry if people come for you or movie lovers share opinions of your film or critics talk about it cos you can’t then compare it to a Hollywood production," he advised.