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At 95th Academy Awards, everything everywhere all At once dominates

The 95th Academy Awards, otherwise called the Oscars, may have ended, but the buzz still continues. The Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood was venue of the ceremony, where film stars were honoured in different categories.

The engaging movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as the Daniels), dominated this year’s Oscars, winning seven awards including best picture. The multiverse fantasy, about a fractured family, swept up in an inter-dimensional adventure, also saw wins for best actress, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best editing and best original screenplay at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

It was the most nominated film of the night. Indeed it was a night of comeback and reassessment and one of the biggest reassessments was the leading actress in the best picture, Michelle Yeoh, who became the first Asian woman to be recognised as best actress and first non-white actress to win the award in 20 years.

The 60 years old Malaysian-born Michelle has had a long career in martial arts and action movies including, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Michelle told ladies after she picked up the best actress award never to allow anyone “ever tell them that they have passed their prime.” Michelle also asked young people generally to consider her winning as a ‘beacon of hope and possibilities’.

Brandan Fraser took the best actor honours for his performance as a morbidly obese man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter in the movie, titled, The Whale. The other big winner of the award ceremony was All Quiet on the Western Front, an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about trench life during world war 1 picked up four Oscars– best international features, cinematography, production design, and for music score.

Nigeria had its own right dose of buzz at the ceremony through the award-winning singer, Temilade Openiyi, aka Tems, who was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever track, Lift Me Up. Tems came under attack over her elaborate outfit that blocked the view of some attendees who sat at her back at the Academy Awards. Tems may not have won the Oscars for the category she was nominated, but observers say that she is still the conversation topic of the event, days after.

Coal City film festival to hold in April
The third edition of the Coal City International Film Festival will no longer hold from March 23 to 25, in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State, as earlier advertised.

The festival, which is in its third edition, will now hold as from April 13 to 15, 2023. Festival Founder and Executive Director, Uche Agbo, disclosed that the management and board of directors of the festival took the decision to ‘postpone the festival by a few weeks’ because of the security concerns expressed by stakeholders following the shift in the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The election was eventually held yesterday.

“This is a painful but precautionary and necessary decision to take as we gauge the temperature of the nation especially following a major general election,” Agbo explained, in a statement. The filmmaker also wrote: “We understand that you may have cleared your schedule on the earlier set date, but we also sincerely crave your indulgence and understand that this decision, as much as it is difficult for us, is a very important one to make.”

This third edition is to be held under the theme ‘Film Meets Tech’. Agbo had explained that the African tech industry is fast evolving into a multi-billion dollar business, with many native founders and developers building an interesting ecosystem with lots of potentials, hence, the decision of the festival team to explore the impact of technology on film.

Agbo also said, “it’s, therefore, an opportunity to explore the impact of Technology on Film and vice versa. More so, it’s no secret that some International streaming platforms, chiefly, Netflix and Amazon Prime with more on the way, are becoming very interested in African contents and this is impacting on the Cinema culture in Africa.

It’s imperative therefore to anticipate strong technological impact in the dynamics of filmmaking and position actors and filmmakers to take full advantage.” Information on the festival can be sourced at www.coalcityfilmfestival.com

IREP Docu film festival ends
The 2023 edition of the annual I-Represent (IREP) International Documentary Film Festival ends today with discussions, screenings and a closing cocktail at the festival’s traditional venue—Freedom Park, Lagos.

The festival kicked off on Thursday with a well-attended opening ceremony at the Amphi-Theatre in Freedom Park. The opening evening featured the screening of Oso Afia, a 31-minute documentary by T. Nwaiwu and Boys on the Brink, a-58 minutes documentary by Peter Oke and Rume Onosode. Running under the broad theme: Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023, this year’s edition featured satellite screening at Inner City Centres such as Bariga, Ajegunle, Ejigbo and Ikorodu. Follow the closing event festival at www.irepfilmfestival.com.