Queen Lateefah

Before the screenings, we invite you to thematic spotlights to get you in the mood – with prominent guests!Great trepidation and guesswork accompany the release of every expensive film production: Whether the audience will get involved with the story told, star constellation and film language and flock to the cinema en masse?

Box Office Around The World is a film festival that wants to get to the bottom of this mystery from the audience’s point of view. Unlike Hollywood productions that are designed for the global market, box office hits from other regions of the world often allow surprising insights into what moves people in Ho Chi Minh City, Rio or Bangkok.The Schlüter Courtyard is located in the heart of Berlin – and surrounded by collections from many cultures around the world.Over two weekends in August, the Box Office Around The World festival presents six current cinema productions that are audience successes and box office hits in their countries of origin, but have not yet been seen on the big screen in Germany.Together with representatives of the Berlin communities from Thailand, Argentina, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and India and the curator Dorothee Wenner, the films were selected and an accompanying programme developed. Before the open-air screenings, a thematic spotlight – with a star-studded line-up – will be directed at each film.


Curator Film Programme

Dorothee Wenner is a freelance filmmaker, curator and writer based in Berlin. 
Since 1990 has been working for Berlin International Filmfestival in various positions, currently as as the delegate for the festival for the Subsahara African region. In 2009, she joined the team of the Dubai International Film Festival as programmer for films from India/Africa/Germany until the festival’s closure. She has been member of the board and jury of the Lagos based African Movie Academy Awards since inception 2005. Her latest work as filmmaker is the webseries Kinshasa Collection. Since 2020 she has been working as a consultant for film/cinema for the Humboldt Forum.

Together with representatives of the communities, she curated the Box Office Around The World festival 2025 for the third time.

Queen Lateefah - Adeoluwa Owu / Nigeria 2024 / 129 Min. / Love drama

The license plates of the fat cars that QUEEN LATEEFAH “borrows” from her childhood friend’s garage for business trips proudly display the motto of the megacity of Lagos: “Centre of Excellence”. Lateefah more than lives up to this reputation: she is an up-and-comer who, thanks to her intelligence, self-confidence and quick-wittedness as a businesswoman, wants to make it from the bottom to the top. More precisely: from the slum where she lives with her mother and sister to the think tank of the advertising agency of Jide, the city’s most sought-after bachelor. Using business strategies that are not entirely legal, but all the smarter for it, she manages to make a spectacular entrance into the company. But Jide is surrounded by women who jealously watch over him and his fortune and immediately become suspicious…

This romantic comedy is perhaps also so successful in Nigeria because it bows to the quick humor and exquisite wit for which Lagos is famous. The necessary accessories to expose these skills in everyday business life, such as spectacular fashion and extravagant furniture, are skillfully staged for the screen.


Programme

- 8 pm: Talk with Rahamatu Ibrahim Sadau (actress), Charles Inojie (actor), Omiagbo Alex Usifo (actor) and Olachi Opara (Nigerian Community in Berlin) & Dorothee Wenner (moderation) 
- Greetings from Isaac Izoya (Director Nollywood Film Festival Germany & Nollywood Europe Golden Awards & Founder of Ehizoya Golden Entertainment e.V.)
- 9 pm Film screening

Further Information

- 10 EUR, reduced 5 EUR
- FSK 12
- Schlüterhof, Entrance: Portal 5
- Englisch, Pidgin, Yoruba with English subtitles
- Belongs to: Box Office Around The World 2025