The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Nigeria
This page contains a list of the greatest Nigerian Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 1 of which were born in Nigeria. This makes Nigeria the birth place of the 108th most number of Film Directors behind Afghanistan, and Cameroon.
Top 1
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Nigerian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Nigerian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Funke Akindele (b. 1977)
With an HPI of 31.99, Funke Akindele is the most famous Nigerian Film Director. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.
Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele (born August 24, 1977) popularly known as Funke Akindele or Jenifa, is a Nigerian filmmaker, actress, director, producer, politician and realtor. Akindele starred in the sitcom I Need to Know from 1998 to 2002 and in 2009, she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her role in Jenifa, which brought her to fame. Akindele reprised the role in 2011 sequel The Return of Jenifa and 2015 soft reboot television series titled Jenifa's Diary, for which she was named the Best Actress in a Comedy at the 2016 and 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards. Akindele won the same award in 2020 and 2022, making it her fifth win for the Best Actress in a Comedy category. Akindele is the most nominated actress/filmmaker at the AMVCA and holds the record for most wins for an actress with six. She is the second director to gross over a billion naira at box office and is currently the Highest-Grossing Director in Nigerian Box Office with a total gross of over ₦4.3 billion. In 2022, she was nominated by the People's Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, as the running mate for the 2023 Lagos state governorship election. During the World AIDS Day commemoration in December 2024, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) appointed her as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Nigeria. Her role will be key in driving positive impact and progress in promotion of HIV prevention across Nigeria.
People
Pantheon has 1 people classified as Nigerian film directors born between 1977 and 1977. Of these 1, 1 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Nigerian film directors include Funke Akindele. As of April 2024, 1 new Nigerian film directors have been added to Pantheon including Funke Akindele.
