‘Not all movies are cinema-worth’ – Actor Kunle Remi

Actor Kunle Remi, best known for his standout role in the Netflix series Anikulapo, recently sparked conversation with his candid thoughts on what truly makes a film deserving of the big screen.

In an interview with HipTV News, Kunle Remi expressed his belief that not all films touted as cinematic are actually worthy of cinema release. He highlighted a common misconception among both audiences and filmmakers, who often mistake TV-quality productions for cinematic masterpieces.

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“Not everybody understands what cinema is,” Remi explained. “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. And you see people come for you. There is a difference between a cinematic film and a film for TV,”  he said.

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Remi praised filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, the director of Anikulapo, as a prime example of someone who understands the art of creating cinema.

“The moment Nigerians and filmmakers understand that we won’t be having this conversation,” Remi added. “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.”

As an experienced actor, Remi shared that he can often sense when a film has been hastily made and lacks the necessary depth. He pointed out that some filmmakers mistakenly label these rushed projects as cinema-worthy, but he can easily discern when they fall short.

“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.