Bolanle Austen-Peters

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Bolanle Austen-Peters
Bolanle Austen-Peters.jpg
Born (1969-02-04) 4 February 1969 (age 52)
NationalityNigerian
Alma materInternational School Ibadan
University of Lagos
London School of Economics
OccupationDirector, Producer, & Lawyer
OrganizationTerra Kulture & BAP Productions
Spouse(s)Adegboyega Austen-Peters
Parent(s)Father-Emmanuel Afe Babalola
Mother-
Websitebolaaustenpeters.com

Bolanle Austen-Peters (born 4 February 1969), is a Nigerian Movie and Theatre Director, and Lawyer. She is the founder and Managing Director of Terra Kulture, the foremost Nigerian Art and Culture centre located in Lagos.[1] Her movie and Theatre company, BAP Productions has produced musicals, including: Saro The Musical, Wakaa The Musical,[2] Moremi The Musical, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens,[3] The Oluronbi Musical,[4] and most recently Death and The King's Horseman. It has also produced films, including 93 Days, Bling Lagosians, Collision, and Man of God.

She partners with Google Arts & Culture Institute [5] to create an online museum of Terrakulture.

She is a movie and theatre Producer/Director whose plays have travelled to London's West-end, South Africa and Egypt. 93 Days and Bling Lagosians were selected in film festivals including Toronto International Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival.

Early life and education[]

Austen-Peters was born on 4 February 1969. She is the daughter of Emmanuel Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.[1][6] She attended the Command Secondary School Ibadan, the International School Ibadan and the University of Lagos for her undergraduate studies and earned a master's degree in International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.[1]

Career[]

Bolanle Austen-Peters began her career in her father's law firm, while working in her father’s firm, she kept sending out job applications to other companies. She was invited by the United Nations for an interview and eventually got a job as the company secretary of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Switzerland. After a while, she moved on to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the United Nations Development Program.[7]

In 2003, she founded Terra Kulture Arts and Studios Limited, an educational and recreational organization set up to promote Nigerian languages, arts and culture. Terra Kulture is also the first privately owned ultra modern theatre in Nigeria.[8]

In 2013, Austen-Peters established her own production company called Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions (BAP). The company entered the Nigerian theatre industry with its first production, SARO the Musical. The show toured Lagos and was performed in London's West End from 21 to 25 July 2016.[9] In December 2017, Bolanle Austen-Peters directed the Fela and The Kalakuta Queens musical. The musical is based on the real-life story of Nigerian music icon and activist, Fela Kuti and the women who stood by him. Bolanle Austen-Peters also directed in 2018, Moremi the Musical which tells the story of the 12th century Yoruba legend Queen who liberated the people of Ife from the grasp of their enemies.

Bolanle Austin Peters at a showing of Death and the King's Horseman at TerraKulture, Lagos. 3 January 2021.

In 2015, BAP commenced production of the film 93 Days[10] (2016),[11] a feature film on the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria which premiered on 13 September 2016 in Lagos. It was selected for premiering and viewing at the Toronto International Film Festival,[12] The Chicago Film Festival,[13] the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles,[14] the Johannesburg Film Festival,[15] the Africa Film Festival in Cologne/Germany,[16] and nominated for a RapidLion Award.[17] It also received the highest nominations in the 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, a total of thirteen nominations, receiving an award for best lighting designer.[18][19][20] 93 days was nominated in 7 categories for the 2017 African Movie Academy Awards, which was the highest nominated film in 2017 AMAA.[21]

In 2019, BAP Productions released The Bling Lagosians, a movie about the lifestyle of the high class of Lagos.[22]

She has featured three consecutive times in Forbes Afrique as one of the most influential women in Africa. Also described by CNN as the 'woman pioneering theatre in Nigeria' [23]

Personal life[]

She is married to Adegboyega Austen-Peters,[24] with two children.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Ibukun Awosika (2009). The "Girl" Entrepreneurs. Xulon Press. pp. 47–61. ISBN 9781607915072.
  2. ^ "Stage sensation "Wakaa!" becomes first Nigerian musical to hit London". CNN. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Fela and the Kalakuta Queens musical coming to SA". Music in Africa. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Bolanle Austen-Peters Production & MTN Bring Oluronbi Musical To Life". Nigerian Entertainment Today. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Google, Terra Kulture partner to showcase Nigerian arts and culture". This is Lagos. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  6. ^ Demilade Oresanya. "Terra Kulture @10: Making Nigerian Arts, Culture and Lifestyle a priority". CP Africa. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. ^ "BOLANLE AUSTEN-PETERS: I would have been a dancer". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. ^ Custodian, Culture (3 April 2017). "Nigeria's first privately owned theatre, Terra Kulture Arena is here". The Culture Custodian (Est. 2014). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Meet The Team* | Terra Kulture". Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "93 days: The Ebola story needs to be told – Bolanle Austen-Peters". The Vanguard. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  12. ^ "93 Days". Toronto International Film Festival.
  13. ^ "Chicago Film Festival: 93 days". Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Pan-African Film Festival: 93 days". 20 December 2016.
  15. ^ "93 Days: The Movie that Brought Nigeria International Respect". 19 January 2017.
  16. ^ "African Cinema Shines in the 24th Annual New York African Diaspora International Film Festival". November 2016.
  17. ^ "RapidLion Award Nominees". Bsharp Entertainment.
  18. ^ "93 Days Top AMVCA Award Nominations List". The Guardian. 16 December 2016.
  19. ^ "'93 Days' And '76' Lead The AMVCA 2017 Nominations – 'A Trip To Jamaica' Shows Up Too". Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Nigeria: '93 Days' Gets Highest Nominations in 2017 Amaa List". Daily Post. Daily Trust. 5 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ "'The Bling Lagosians' is a much better film than you think it is". Pulse Nigeria. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  23. ^ "The woman powering Nigeria's theater industry". CNN Marketplace Africa.
  24. ^ "Bolanle Austen-Peters steps out with hubby". The Punch. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

External links[]

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