Toronto Film Festival awards Odiete for promoting African content

It was a moment of joy for the Blue Pictures team when their founder and Chief Executive Officer, Joy Efe Odiete received her award, ‘Achievement Award in Media, Entertainment, and Distribution’, while being hosted by the Mayor of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Patrick Brown, on behalf of the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) for her years of excellent service delivery in the content distribution sector of the African film industry.

Sharing the news, Odiete thanked the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival for recognising the long years of service Blue Pictures has dedicated in rewriting the history of African cinema, where it plays big not only as a distributor, but also a production company as well as ‘incubator of future film talents’, through the biennial industry interactive forum, ‘Next Gen Mini Conference.

According to her, “I am feeling incredibly grateful to receive the award of excellence from the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and recognition from the Mayor of Brampton. This honour is truly humbling and I am so thankful for the support of my Blue Pictures team and partners. The award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in bringing our stories to life. Thank you for believing in our vision, and for this incredible recognition.”

The award from TINFF, a multicultural film festival that values diversity and inclusion providing a creative platform for Canadian and international films, is one of the many recognitions that have come Joy Odiete’s way since her entry into the industry in 2005.

A renowned local and international Independent film distributor/film sales agent, Odiete has been a sub distributor to Warner Brothers Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Black Sheep Entertainment and other Independent studios in the US, UK and South Africa for over 19 years.

Her works as a film distributor have recorded major successes for the foreign studios with franchise titles like: Harry Porter, Star Wars, Thor, Avengers, Batman, Iron Man etc. She has also worked with Nollywood greats and behind such Nigerian box-office hits like, The Return of Jenifa, Phone Swap, Maami, Last Flight to Abuja, The Mirror Boy, and Anchor Baby amongst others. Her company, Blue Pictures has also partnered with Netflix, Amazon and some major airlines.