Colourful End For Berlinale As Mati Diop’s Documentary Wins Top Prize
The 74th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival came to a colourful end this Sunday after 10 days of screening of films, closing of deals at the European Film Market and high-level networking. The award ceremony where the prizes of Berlinale Shorts, the Berlinale Documentary Award as well as the Golden and Silver Bears in the Competition were awarded brought the festival to an end. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop scooped the coveted top prize for the festival — Golden Bear for best film of the Berlinale with the audacious documentary, titled, Dahomey. Kenyan-Mexican Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o, the first black jury president at the 74th yearly event, announced the seven-member panel’s choice among 20 contenders for the Golden Bear award at a gala ceremony. Diop’s movie borrows its name from the former west African kingdom of Dahomey, located in the south of what is today Republic of Benin.

The film traces the 2021 journey of 26 precious artefacts of the Dahomey kingdom to Benin from a Paris Museum. Dahomey is Diop’s first feature since his 2019’s film, titled, Atlantics, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019. Diop said winning the top prize not only honours her, but the entire visible and invisible community that the film represents. South Korean Hang Sang-soo received the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for A Traveller’s Needs while French Director Bruno Dumont got the third place Jury Prize for The Empire. Other winners include, the Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias won best director for Pepe a docudrama, Marvel movie star, Sebastian Stan, who picked up the best performance Silver Bear for his appearance in US satire, A Different Man, and Britain’s Emily Watson who clinched the best supporting performance Silver Bear for her performance in Small Things Like These. The festival opened on February 15 with a gala night that saw a special highlight with the award ceremony of the Honorary Golden Bear to US director Martin Scorsese.

Documentaries From 25 Countries To Screen At iREPRESENT 2024
ORGANISERS of the 2024 edition of the Irepresent International Documentary Film Festival otherwise called IREP have announced that over 45 films are expected to be screened at the two venues hosting the festival this year — Freedom Park, on Hospital Road, Lagos Island, and Alliance Francaise, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi. This edition, dubbed the ‘Soyinka Edition’ will hold from March 21 to March 24 in Lagos. Programme Director of the festival Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo disclosed that the films — short are long features — have been drawn from largely Nigerian filmmakers and their counterparts from 25 countries in four continents, who submitted their entries via Filmfreeway. However, Anikulapo hinted that there were some films that were specially curated for the festival, some of which have made the round of international festival circuits and have won awards around the world. To be held under the theme: ‘Righting The Future’, Anikulapo also explained that the theme was chosen to instigate conversation between the present and the future of the continent, as well as encourage deeper dialogue between the young people and their elders.

Significantly, this 2024 edition has been designated as ‘The Soyinka Editon’’ to commemorate the 90th birthday anniversary of the distinguished global cultural icon, poet, playwright, essayist, polemicist and Africa’s first Nobel laureate for literature, Professor Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka. The Soyinka section will cover two days of the festival and will be staged at the Alliance Francaise, Mike Adenuga Centre. Day one keynote on Righting the Future: Soyinka & His Engagements will be delivered Prof Manthia Diawara, writer, filmmaker, cultural theorist, scholar, art historian, and distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and Film at the New York University. The second day keynote on the humanistic ideals of Soyinka as reflected in his works will be delivered by Professor Awam Amkpa, Dean of Arts and Humanities, & Vice Provost at the New York University, NYUAD, and Global Network Professor of Drama, Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU New York. Each keynote will be followed by a panel discussion and screenings of films related to Soyinka’s career. Information on the festival can be sourced at https://www.irepfilmfestival.com
Call For Entries For Africa

International Indigenous Language Film Festival
CALL for entries for the second diet of the African Indigenous Language Film Festival (AILFF) is now open. Organisers say call for entries will close on May 15, 2024 while the festival will hold in Lagos as from June 3 to June 6. According to the founder and CEO of the Festival Osezua Stephen-Imobhio, the 2024 edition will highlight Africa’s cultural richness and tourism potentials. “By showcasing indigenous languages and traditions, this event empowers local communities. Through film screenings, workshops, and exhibits, it fosters dialogue between filmmakers, tourism professionals, and cultural enthusiasts,” said Imohbio, who doubles as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Film Festival Association (NFFA). The festival accepts only films in Africa indigenous languages and all entries must be subtitled. Information on the festival can be sourced from ailfffilmfestival@gmail.com