Winners Of Nollywood Week
Film Festival Unveiled
WINNERS of the 10th Nollywood Week Film Festival, which ended on May 15, in Paris, France, were unveiled during the closing ceremony. In all, three films stood out at this year’s edition of the festival. For the Best Short Film Award: there are two winners: Love Language directed by Uzoamaka Aniunoh and Employee of the Month directed by Goga Clay. Love Language is a short film featuring a couple who discover how their cultural differences challenge their bond. The story, set in Lagos, follows the lives of Chioma, played by director Uzoamaka Aniunoh, and Abdul (Adam Garba). A conversation brings many facets of their reality to light, which puts their bond to the test. The film Employee of the Month is about Ibinabo, a young husband and father-to-be, who leads a ordinary but exemplary life. He struggles to prove himself to his boss, but finds himself caught up in the horrors of the October 2020 EndSARS protests against police brutality. In the feature film category, 2 films were rewarded: a special jury mention for the feature film: Brotherhood directed by Loukman Ali while the Best Feature Film Award went to Ba ni by director Daniel Ehimen. However, the traditional Audience Award in partnership with the Angénieux brand went to the film The Wild Flower by director Biodun Stephens, a film giving a voice to Nigerian victims of GBV (Gender-Based Violence). A special mention was given by the Jury for the film: Genius in disguise. In this documentary, director James Amuta tries to demystify dyslexia by talking to people who have it, educators and mental healthspecialists. NollywoodWeek is a film festival organised by Okada Media, an organisation run by Serge Noukoué and Nadira Shakur. The two co-founders have been promoting African cinema on a global scale for a decade and launched the first edition of Nollywood week in Paris in 2013.
Durban FilmMart Institute
Announces DFM Official Projects
28 projects have been selected to be part of the Pitch and Finance Forum of the 2023 Durban FilmMart (DFM), Africa’s premier coproduction and finance market. Under the theme African Constellations, the 14th DFM takes place from July 21 to 24, 2023 as a four-day physical event in Durban, South Africa. The Pitch and Finance Forum functions as a crucial platform for filmmakers to connect with both local and global broadcasters, financiers, streamers, sales agents and producers, garnering the essential support and collaborations requird to bring projects in developmente to completion and reach screens big and small. Commenting on the selection of the 2023 projects, Director of the DFMI, Magdalene Reddy says, Africa offers an abundance of extraordinary narratives as is evident from the remarkable range of subjects explored in this year’s slate of projects. African filmmakers are broadening the scope of cinema and offering fresh perspectives to audiences worldwide. We are pleased with the calibre and number of submissions received this year, which is testament to the creativity and ever-evolving expertise of our continent’s filmmakers. Included in the 2023 selection are eight animation projects, which were announced earlier this year and three projects from the emerging filmmaker programme DFM Access currently taking place. The official fiction project selection include Big Tree (Uganda) Poducer: Flavia Mary Bukojja andirector: Dilman Dila, Coconut (South Africa) Producer: Bongiwe Selane, Dineo Lusenga and Director: Karabo Lediga, and Graft (Zimbabwe) Producer: Sue-Ellen Chitunya and Director: Naishe Nyamubaya. The documentary series project includes Cirta (Tunisia) Producer: Olfa Ben Achour and Director: Saif Chida, and The Circuit (Cameroon)Producer: Martinel Nemalieu and Director: Arice Siapi. The only selected documentary series is a Nigerian project titled Beyond Fela (formerly The Darker Side of Afrobeats) (Nigeria) Producer: Aderonke Adeola, Temitayo Ayorinde and Director: Aderonke Adeola. Ahead of the Pitch and Finance Forum, the 2023 DFM projects will benefit from the guidance of esteemed film producers and professionals. Among the mentors for the fiction projects are Kethiwe Ngcobo (South Africa), filmmaker and award-winning television producer, who previously served as the Head of Drama at SABCs Content Hub and Femi Odugbemi (Nigeria), the Academy Director of the Multichoice Talent Factory and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Pitch and Finance Forum is one element of the Durban FilmMart programme. Delegates can also attend the Industry Programme made up of masterclasses, panel discussions and round tables featuring some of Africa’s best filmmakers and professionals. Details can be sourced at https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/.
AFRIFF Call For Entries
Open Till July 3
ENTRIES for the 12th me edition of the Nigerian domiciled Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is open till July. The 2023 festival scheduled to take place as from November 5 to 10 is designed to like its previous editions foster valuable exchanges of ideas, production connections and business relationships that deliver value, build capacity and create wealth. There will be awards in categories such as feature, documentary, short, animation and students short, as well as prizes in directing, acting and screenplay. The festival will also feature special awards for audience choice and a jury award for outstanding film.
