Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o, covers cinema in Lagos

Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o and her fellow Black Panther actress, Danai Gurira, are on the cover of the Olumide Iyanda edited Cinema in Lagos, the annual magazine on the Lagos domiciled motion picture industry, dubbed Nollywood.

The magazine, which, like the first edition, was presented to the public at the just-held Cannes International Film Festival, featured stories and interviews on and about major players and institutions in Nigerian movie scene.

The story on Lupita and Danai was on their recent trip to Lagos to research on an upcoming film project. It was gathered that the actresses are working on adapting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book, Americanah, into a television mini-series.

However, in an address at the unveiling ceremony of the magazine in Cannes, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Fola Adeyemi, said the state was in Cannes to woo film makers and producers across the world to take advantage of the massive infrastructure and enabling environment provided by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration to shoot their films in the state.

Describing Lagos as a land of opportunities, Adeyemi called on global investors to take advantage of the liberal policies and programmes of the administration towards the creative arts and entertainment industry to heavily invest in the sector.

Meanwhile, curtain fell on the 10-day 71st edition of the festival at the weekend. It featured artists and films from all four corners of the globe. At the Grand Theatre Lumiere, venue of the closing ceremony, the feature film jury, presided over by Cate Blanchett, Manbiki Kazokui (Shoplifters), a film by KORE-EDA Hirokazu, emerged as winner of the biggest prize of the festival- Palme D’or.  

Other winners include BLACKKLANSMAN (Black Klansman) by the legendary Spike Lee, which got the festival Grand Prix, and CAPHARNAUM by Nadine Labaki, which got the prestigious jury prize.