The world's third largest film industry, Nollywood continues to take center stage with ground-breaking movies that have been viewed by millions on international streaming platforms. The latest is "Up North", a story of love and self-discovery, that has been dubbed Nigeria's LARGEST ever movie production. CGTN's Deji Badmus has more from Lagos.

The movie is being hailed as a bridge between Nigeria's north and south and a unique showcase of the other side of a part of the country tainted by the narrative of conflict, hunger and strife. It's set in Nigeria's northeastern state of Bauchi and deliberately so says producer and executive producer, Editi Effiong.

EDITI EFFIONG PRODUCER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, UP NORTH "I kind of made a decision to tell new stories of Nigeria that we don't often tell. Our movie industry is the 3rd biggest in the world but it's concentrated in the South. There is a film industry in the north but people in the south do not consume films from the north because its mostly in Hausa. So I thought to tell this story about, this untold story about Nigeria, about the north of Nigeria. We need to tell a cross over story that takes people from the south to the north, and people from the north to the south."

The movie tells the story of how a billionaire father sends his rebellious son to the north for a mandatory one national youth service. The son later falls in love, makes new friends and finds his life's purpose in an environment he dreaded at first. The film also cast the spotlight on the topical issue of female education and the empowerment of the girl child in a region of Nigeria where the issue remains a big talking point.

In terms of records in the Nollywood industry, Up North has set some. It's the largest film production in Nigeria and even West Africa as a whole, with a full-time cast and crew of over 150 while the largest day of filming involved 25,000 extras.

"When we went there, we wanted to shoot a very big film. It turns out we were shooting the biggest film ever made in Nigeria. Nobody had the experience to shoot a scene with 25,000 people. None of us had the experience of just getting people in a row and getting to shoot that big expansive scene was quite challenging but I'm really grateful to the director, the crew, which is this is what needs to be done and would be done and they buckled down and did the great work that had to be done."

With no investor willing to put their money down to fund the movie's project, Editi's Anakle Films startup had to raise the over $300,000 needed to shoot the film all on its own.

EDITI EFFIONG PRODUCER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, UP NORTH "I want to think that in future projects we'll have more institutional funding because when you make a film for the first time, it's hard to raise money for that because nobody really believes you're going do it. You know, it's the same attitude that we have including when we talk to people about sponsorship money. 'Are you sure you can do this?' So, after the premiere, most of the people who were skeptical were telling us 'Okay, when is the next project?'"

DEJI BADMUS LAGOS, NIGERIA "Up North is already in cinemas across Nigeria and Ghana and doing well. The movie producer says it will soon be in the UK, the US, and international video streaming platforms like Netflix. DEJI BADMUS, CGTN, NIGERIA."