Actress and filmmaker Fathia Williams has publicly called out some cinemas over the treatment of her movie, Efunroye: The Unicorn, claiming the film is being sidelined with unfavourable screening schedules.
Speaking in videos posted online, the actress lamented that several cinemas were assigning the movie inconvenient viewing times, including midday and late-night slots, which she believes have hurt ticket sales and audience turnout.
According to her, some cinemas barely make room for the film at all, while others schedule it at hours she described as unreasonable.
Fathia explained that the scheduling issues have disrupted promotional plans for the movie, including appearances by cast members meant to engage with fans during cinema visits.
The actress stressed that she made huge financial sacrifices to produce the film and is determined not to give up on it after investing heavily.
“They give me stupid showtime and when I can’t cope, I’ll leave. That’s exactly what they want,” she said.
“I suffered for that movie. I spent so much money on it,” she stated.
She further alleged that some actors involved in the project were denied access during planned meet-and-greet events because of the cinema arrangements.
In another emotional video shared on Friday, Fathia appealed directly to fans to support the movie, admitting she was deeply pained by the challenges surrounding its cinema run.
“I’m heartbroken. I’ve never done this before, but this project involves millions of naira, so I need to speak up and beg my fans to help me,” she continued.
The actress argued that the timing was especially frustrating because the Ileya festive season is usually a strong period for movie attendance, yet her film was still being allocated poor screening slots.
She said:
“I have been having issues with the showtime for my movie. Cinemas are trying to kill this movie, and I don’t know why. This is the Ileya period when people usually come out to watch movies, yet they are giving me poor showtimes.
“I spent a lot of money on this movie. I borrowed money, and investors are involved too. They need to make their money back.
“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. They give me showtimes like 12 noon. I don’t know who goes to the cinema by 12 noon. Then they give me 9 p.m. showtimes. I also don’t know who goes out to watch movies that late.”
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