When ‘Red Circle’ screenings begin at Café One locations in Kaduna, Enugu, Uyo, and Owerri this August, it won’t be on a giant screen or inside a multiplex. It’ll unfold in a café, accompanied with coffees, couches, and conversations. And for filmmaker Nora Awolowo, that’s exactly where it belongs.
“The film feels even more powerful when shared closely,” she said. “It was made for that kind of connection.”
The psychological thriller, directed by Akay Mason and shot by Awolowo, becomes the first title to launch under FilmHub’s new partnership with Café One, a collaboration aimed at making Nollywood films more accessible—without compromising the magic of the shared cinema experience.
“Community cinemas have been a piece needed in our ecosystem,” Awolowo said. “So seeing Red Circle launch in these intimate spaces means a lot.”
While Nigerian audiences have long clamoured for more affordable ways to watch Nollywood films, the infrastructure often hasn’t kept up. But FilmHub’s model—plugging secure screening tech into everyday spaces like cafés—is now being stress-tested in real time.
For ‘Red Circle’, that means screenings in four cities, several nights a week, for just ₦3,000 a ticket. It also means audiences who missed the film in cinemas (or never had access to one in the first place) get a second chance in a more communal setting.
And while the Café One shows aren’t traditional premiere events, Awolowo teased that members of the cast and crew may “make surprise stops” at some locations:
“Nothing beats watching it with people who truly feel it,” she said. “Just soaking in the magic with the audience.”
For Nile Entertainment, which distributed ‘Red Circle’, this isn’t just an experiment—it’s a signal.
“This partnership is not about one film,” said Moses Babatope, CEO of Nile Media Group. “It represents a deeper shift in how we think about access, community, and the evolving cinema experience.”
According to Babatope, early trials of the model have shown that alternative screening venues—when done right—can be commercially viable while maintaining high standards of content security.
“It’s strengthened our resolve to support it with even more titles from our slate,” he said.
Nowe Segun-Ojo, General Manager at Nile Entertainment, sees this rollout as a quiet revolution—not just for distributors, but for audiences.
“It stretches the commercial life of a film like ‘Red Circle’, but more importantly, it represents a shift in how audiences are choosing to gather and engage,” she said. “It’s intimate and intentional, and it invites word-of-mouth in a way multiplexes sometimes can’t.”
As more filmmakers and distributors look for more avenues beyond the traditional cinema circuit, the Café One rollout could become a blueprint—especially in cities underserved by commercial theatres.
Confirmed ‘Red Circle’ Screenings at Café One
Screenings begin August 1 at the following Café One locations:
- Owerri & Enugu – Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays at 4 PM
- Uyo – Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays at 6 PM
- Kaduna – Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays at 6:30 PM
Tickets cost ₦3,000 and are available at Café One locations.
