London , England ( CNN ) -- A young boy sits in his bedroom staring up at the poster of Bruce Lee hanging on the wall . Like most kids in Kafanchan , a small town in the heart of Nigeria , he is a big fan of the martial arts supremo , frequenting the local cinema which almost exclusively shows Hong Kong karate movies or Bollywood films . Other times the young boy immerses himself in a world of literature reading work from acclaimed writers like Chinua Achebe , Wole Soyinka and Charles Dickens . And while outwardly he may still appear to be a child , the die has been cast . `` I knew I wanted to be a writer from when I was six , '' Biyi Bandele tells CNN . `` My dad took me to the local library , I was five or six and I just fell in love with the books . '' Some three decades later and Bandele has become a celebrated novelist and playwright who most recently moved behind the camera to try his hand at directing . A task he seems well suited for after receiving critical acclaim for his directorial feature film debut , `` Half of a Yellow Sun , '' based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 's much-loved novel of the same name and starring Hollywood stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton . `` What really particularly attracted me to 'Half of a Yellow Sun ' was that ... there were these characters -- middle , upper-middle-class characters , educated characters , Nigerian characters -- who I suppose had been seen in quite a few novels set in Africa , written by Africans , but they had never been seen in any movie set in Africa , '' says Bandele . `` I felt it was a great opportunity to bring these people to the big screen , '' he adds . `` I was really fed up of going to the cinema and watching a movie about Africa and all you saw were them as victims without any say over their own destiny , '' explains Bandele . `` They just seemed to live this passive existence but that was redeemed only by gifts from NGOs . `` I felt like I could do a better job than [ others ] had and so I decided that I had to take the plunge and direct . '' From writer to director . Talented and ambitious , Bandele left Nigeria at 22 after studying drama at Obafemi Awolowo University with two novels he 'd written in his luggage . `` I actually came [ to London ] because I 'd been invited to a theater festival ... within weeks , I had a publisher , not just in the UK but in Italy and in France and in Germany , '' he recalls . `` Then I got offered a job to be the literary editor of a weekly Nigerian newspaper in London so I had actually come with absolutely no intention of staying . '' Shortly after his arrival to the UK , his work was published and he received his first commission from the Royal Court Theatre where he was catapulted into arts . Just three years later -- his career flourishing in playhouses up and down the country -- Bandele wrote a screenplay which was picked up by the BBC , who attached a young up and coming director to it . His name was Danny Boyle . `` Working with Danny was a game changer , '' recalls Bandele . `` I was n't that interested at the time in actually directing anything but I watched Danny ... it was a joy working with him , '' he adds . `` I then started directing theater because I think , subconsciously , I was preparing to get into film ... I kept thinking I can do this , I can do this better . '' Behind the camera . It was Bandele 's empathy for storytelling -- a trait he has held all his life -- that spurred him to take `` Half of a Yellow Sun '' and begin a six-year production process from adaptation to the big screen . Upon completion of his debut film , Bandele was approached by MTV 's Staying Alive Foundation to direct `` Shuga , '' a popular TV series aimed at educating viewers on HIV/AIDS . Set in Lagos , the eight-part series follows a group of young people trying to live normal lives as HIV/AIDS becomes more prevalent in their world . Bandele says this was a project he simply could n't say no to . `` Nigeria has , depending on which authorities you listen to , between 3.4 million and 4.3 million people suffering from HIV/AIDS , '' says the director . `` But when you go to Nigeria and talk to anyone about this epidemic , people will tell you , 'We do n't have a problem ' -- there 's a culture of complete denial and I felt it was important for us to do the series to get people talking , '' he adds . `` We also knew from the TV-watching habits of Nigerians , the likelihood was that this 15-year-old kid was watching it and so was their parent and probably their grandparents ... you 'd have several generations actually having this conversation and that 's exactly what happened . '' For Bandele , this is what it all comes down to -- telling stories that matter whether it is on stage or screen . `` I like telling stories but if telling stories actually has a positive effect on how people live their lives , the better . 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Biyi Bandele is a celebrated Africans playwright-turned-filmmaker . Recently directed Biyi Bandele nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor in ` Half of a Yellow Sun ' He sits down with Staying Alive Foundation to discuss his remarkable journey from Nigeria to the Nigeria .