Nollywood actress and producer Fathia Williams has expressed frustration over the treatment of her movie, Efunroye: The Unicorn, in cinemas, accusing some cinema operators of deliberately frustrating the film’s success.
In emotional videos shared online, the filmmaker complained that her movie has been given unfavourable screening schedules, including very early afternoon and late-night slots, which she believes are discouraging moviegoers from watching it.
According to her, certain cinemas hardly provide enough screening opportunities for the film, while others place it at inconvenient hours.
“Some cinemas are not even giving me time at all. By the time they give me stupid showtime and I cannot cope, I’ll leave. That’s what they want to do,” she said.
Fathia revealed that the poor scheduling has also disrupted promotional activities for the movie, including appearances planned with cast members at cinemas.
The actress noted that she invested heavily in the project and is unwilling to watch it fail after sacrificing so much financially.
“I suffered for that movie, I spent a lot on that movie,” she added.
She further claimed that some actors attached to the film were denied access during arranged meet-and-greet sessions due to the screening issues.
In another clip posted on Friday, the filmmaker emotionally appealed to her supporters for help, saying she had never publicly begged for support before but felt compelled to speak out because of the huge financial commitment tied to the project.
“I’m heartbroken, and I have never done this before. But because this involves millions of naira, I have to cry out to my fans and ask them to plead on my behalf,” she said.
Fathia also lamented that despite the Ileya festive season — a period when cinemas usually witness large crowds — her movie was still being assigned poor showtimes.
She disclosed that the production was funded through loans and investors’ contributions, stressing that those involved are expecting returns from the movie.
The actress accused cinemas of favouring newly released movies while gradually pushing her film aside because it has spent four weeks in theatres.
“Because my movie is four weeks old, they are giving me terrible showtimes. Some movies just came out, and they want to push mine to the background,” she lamented.
She also questioned the logic behind assigning midday and very late-night screenings to the movie, insisting those hours are not ideal for cinema audiences.
