Emmanuelle Beart, Baloji to co-preside Cannes Camera d’or Jury
The 77th Festival de Cannes, otherwise called the Cannes International Film Festival, will feature an unprecedented, yet self-evident pairing at the head of the Camera d’or Jury.

The festival is bringing together Emmanuelle Beart and Baloji to co-preside over the jury that will honour one of the first films presented in the festival’s official selection or its parallel sections.

Described by critics as an unprecedented pairing, French actress Emmanuelle Béart and director and songwriter Baloji, who evolves in Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have never met. Emmanuelle has worked with some of the world’s greatest filmmakers, dazzling both screen and stage with her incandescent performance, while Baloji is a bold, visionary creator, who made two short films before receiving the New Voice Prize at Un Certain Regard in 2023 for his acclaimed debut feature, Omen.

Delighted to be paired at the head of the Caméra d’or Jury, Baloji and Emmanuelle Béart will combine their voices to welcome the first features of filmmakers who look at the world with inspiration. “Being a self-taught filmmaker and a filmmaker from the Congolese diaspora,” confides Baloji, “it’s a great honour to be able to witness the vitality of first-time directors, to discover their strong singularities and their inaugural work, which will have a lasting impact on the identity of their filmography.” Emmanuelle Béart declares: “A first film is about the impossibility of doing anything other than delving into the depths of one’s being to find out what we can’t keep quiet about. A deeply moving and terribly free birth: no one is waiting for you yet. We will honor our duty with wonder and respect.” The Caméra d’or Jury has been co-chaired three times before: by actress Françoise Fabian and director Daniel Schmid in 1996, by Marthe Keller and Géraldine Chaplin in 2002, and by brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne in 2006. The 2024 Cannes Film Festival takes place as from May 14 to 25. American filmmaker and actress

Greta Gerwig will serve as jury president for the main competition.

Jury Members Announced For 2024 Pitcher Awards
Organisers of the Pitcher Festival have unveiled the distinguished panel of jury members for the 2024 Pitchers Awards. The organisers say the esteemed professionals selected to constitute the jury represents the pinnacle of creative communications across the continent and beyond.

Last week, the Pitcher festival secretariat announced the appointment of Femi Odugbemi, as the 2024 Pitcher Awards Entertainment Jury President. This prestigious role recognizes Odugbemi’s outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry and his unwavering commitment to fostering creativity.

While unveiling the jury members, the organisers say they are welcoming jurors from Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), marking a significant milestone in the festival’s commitment to fostering collaboration across Africa and recognising outstanding creativity. The channel jury has the following as jurors, Director of Planning and strategy at Scout Media, Nigeria, Jim Martins; President Gazelle Touch, Ivory Coast, Boris Crestia; Head, Strategy & Planning at All Seasons Zenith, Lagos, Nigeria, Tale Oladapo; Business Lead; First Media Red Star, A division of Mediafuse Dentsu, Nigeria, Ugochukwu Maduagwu; Head of Spark Foundry, Egypt, Nadine Helal and Data & Insights Specialist, GroupM Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Peter Maina. The craft jury has the following professionals as members: Creative Director, Ogilvy Africa Kenya, Teresa Makori; TheVisualAdvocate, Ayo Ishola; Noah’s Ark Communications Limited, Lagos, Nigeria, Gabby Olonisakin; Creative Director, AG Partners Publicis Africa Group, DRC, Daniel Baya; Creative Director, 3Verse, South Africa, Eric Mwangi; Co-Founder & Creative Director, Walace, Senegal, Aymeric Austry. Details of the composition of the culture, digital, entertainment, heritage and good and effectiveness jury can be found on the Pitcher festival website.

The 2024 Pitcher Awards show is the climax of the Pitcher Festival of Creativity and it will hold on May 18 2024. The winners shortlist will be revealed on May 16, 2024, ahead of the highly anticipated announcement of the winners on May 18, 2024. The show will be streamed online and broadcast on major TV networks across Africa.

NollywoodWeek Festival In Paris Opens May 2
The Cinéma L’Arlequin in Paris is hosting the 11th edition of the Nollywoodweek Festival will open on May 2 at the Cinema L’Arlequin and will close on May 5. The festival aims to raise the profile of Nigerian cinema and African cinema in general.

The programme for this diet will include screenings of short and feature-length films, professional meetings and round-table discussions. This year, for the first time, Nollywood Week will not be exclusively about the big screen. The promoters Okada Media Association have hinted that this year the festival is opening its doors to virtual reality films, one of the themes of this year’s edition alongside animation and video games.

The festival will screen four virtual reality films from four regions of the continent, including, Daughters of Chibok, which echoes the terrible kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls in April 2014.

This year, more than 10 nationalities will be represented on the screens during the festival”, says Serge Noukoue, co-founder of Nollywood Week. Founded by Serge Noukoué and Nadira Shakur, the Nollywood Week film festival has been held every spring since 2013.