Showing posts with label Academy Awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Academy Awards. Show all posts

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Chinonye Chukwu, One of the Most Daring NIgerian Born Filmmakers

Chinonye Chukwu is one of the most daring African American filmmakers and one of the three most accomplished NIgerian born female filmmakers with Ngozi Onwurah and Branwen Okpako. 

Chinonye will be on the cover of the third edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series, the first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry published since 2013. 

She directed "Igbo Kwenu!" (2009),"The Dance Lesson" (2010) about a young black girl who struggles to become a ballerina in an increasingly gentrified community and "Bottom" in 2012.

Her first feature film "Alaska-Land"
(2012), told the story of two estranged Nigerian-American brother and sister who eventually reunite in their hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska. In 2013 she directed "A Long Walk" (2013), a short film about a child who is publicly ridiculed by his father.
Her critically acclaimed "Clemency"
 (2019), a death row drama stars Alfre Woodard as a prison warden coming to terms with the demands of her profession and Aldis Hodge as one of her inmates bound for execution. Her inspiration for the film came from the case of Troy Davis, a prisoner executed in 2011. She moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to shoot the film. She received the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at 2019 Sundance, the first black woman to do so.

Chinonye is slated to direct "A Taste Of Power", a film based on the memoir of Elaine Brown.
Chinonye's new feature, Orion Pictures' 
"Till" is about Emmett Louis Till.
"Till" tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley whose pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Louis Till  became a galvanizing moment that helped lead to the creation of the civil rights movement. As Time Magazine reported, “…thanks to a mother’s determination to expose the barbarousness of the crime, the public could no longer pretend to ignore what they couldn’t see.” Mamie’s decision to have an open casket at Emmett’s funeral, and to have Jet magazine publish David Jackson’s funeral photos, was driven by her motivation to ensure people everywhere knew what had happened to her son. The famous multiple award winning iconic actress, Whoopi Goldberg is playing Emmett’s grandmother.


The Challenges of Ava DuVernay, Chinonye Chukwu and Mati Diop To Nigerian Female Filmmakers

 The Challenges of Ava DuVernay, Chinonye Chukwu and Mati Diop To Nigerian Female Filmmakers


The most accomplished black female filmmaker is without dispute, Ava Marie DuVernay, the outstanding award winning African American film director, producer and screenwriter. She won the directing award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film "Middle of Nowhere", becoming the first black woman to win the award. For her work on "Selma" (2014), DuVernay became the first black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director and also the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2017, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her film, "13th" (2016).

Following in her trail blazers' status are NIgerian born Chinonye Chukwu, the first black woman to win the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Competition, on January 27, 2019 at Sundance and the French Senegalese Filmmaker, Mati Diop who became the first black woman to make the Official Selection of the 2019 annual Cannes Film Festival in the competition for the Palme d'Or for her directorial debut feature "Atlantics" that won the Grand Prix.

DuVernay, Chukwu and Diop are highly intellectual and philosophical filmmakers who are psychologically nuanced.
They are as good as the best male directors in cinema and a big challenge to other black female filmmakers. But do we have Nigerian female filmmakers of the same intellectual calibre with them in Nigeria and the Diaspora?
Yes, we have. But they are few; including the most accomplished, Ngozi Onwurah, whose "Welcome II the Terrordome" in 1995 became the first film directed by a Black British woman to receive a UK theatrical release; Branwen Okpako; Chika Anadu; Michelle Bello; Mildred Okwo and Tope Oshin.

Ngozi Onwurah

Branwen Okpako

Mildred Okwo
Tope Oshin.

The challenges of those I mentioned who work in Nollywood are several, including the scarcity of good production designers and good actors who understand English grammar for enunciation and interpretation of characters. Majority of the actors in Nollywood and Kannywood cannot act. They just want to belong to the glitz and razzmatazz of the popularity of movie stars. These fundamental challenges have negatively impacted on the overall ratings of Nigerian movies. I have seen many examples of amateurish actors in Nigerian movies by very good filmmakers.

I look forward to seeing these ambitious Nigerian female filmmakers making groundbreaking films with cheers all the way to the top from Cannes to the Oscars.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima.

Friday, November 12, 2021

"The Hand of God" is One of the Best Films in 2021



#God
#netflix
#italy🇮🇹
#italian
#bestpicture
#cinematography
#academyawards
#Oscars 
#academyawards2022
#94thAcademyAwards


"The Hand of God" (Italian: È stata la mano di Dio), the 2021 Italian drama film written, directed, and produced by Academy Award winner, Paolo Sorrentino is affirmatively one of the best films of the year.

The Cinematography should get a nomination at the 94th Academy Awards  for  Daria D'Antonio.

It competed for the Golden Lion at the 78th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize.

It is the Italian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

The Story:

In 1980s Naples, young Fabietto pursues his love for football as family tragedy strikes, shaping his uncertain but promising future as a filmmaker.

"The Hand of God" is a story full of unexpected joys, such as the arrival of football legend Diego Maradona, and an equally unexpected tragedy. Fate plays its part, joy and tragedy intertwine, and Fabietto's future is set in motion. Sorrentino returns to his hometown to tell his most personal story, a tale of fate and family, sports and cinema, love and loss.

Starring:Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo

My Verdict: It will get up to 4 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards for the Best International Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. 

Distributed by Netflix
Release date
2 September 2021 (Venice)
24 November 2021
Running time
130 minutes

Definitely one of the top 10 must see movies on my Top Watch List of 2021.


Thursday, November 4, 2021

"Héliopolis" is a Masterpiece in Motion Picture


In 1970, Algeria became the first country in the Arab world to win an #Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category with the Algerian-French production “Z” directed by Costa Gavras.

“Héliopolis", Algeria's entry for the Best International Feature Film category of the 94th Annual Academy Awards is a very powerful historical drama about
the Algerian revolution, directed by Djaafar Gacem.

Synopsis:

In Guelma, Victory in Europe Day is a life-altering event for one Algerian family: French troops are about to commit a massacre against Algerian civilians.

In Guelma, which was once called Heliopolis in ancient times, the daily life of an Algerian family takes its usual course. But on May 8, 1945, the day the end of World War II was announced, demonstrations by the Algerian people against the French colonial power and for the country’s independence took place, which were bloodily suppressed by the French army and French settler militias. The event went down in history as the Sétif and Guelma massacre. 

"Héliopolis" is a masterpiece in motion picture and will end up a classic in the history of filmmaking in Algeria and the rest of the Arab world.

French is the best language of motion picture. 

I predict "Héliopolis" making it to the final nominees for the Best International Feature Film, Best Picture and the Best Original Screenplay.. But I don't know if it can win the second Oscar for Algeria, because of the outstanding films by the other countries competing for the Best International Feature Film award.

###

Heliopolis is also the title of an Egyptian film produced in 2009 directed by Ahmad Abdalla.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor, 
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series
@247 NIGERIA @247nigrria on Twitter



Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Mo Abudu and Chioma Ude Have the Best International PR for Nollywood

Mo Abudu and Chioma Ude Have the Best International PR for Nollywood


Mo Abudu, the Founder and CEO of the EbonyLife Group and Chioma Ude, the Founder and CEO of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) have the best international public relations profiles for Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.
Both of them understand the importance and significance of international public relations for the promotion of Nollywood as a global brand of the Nigerian film industry. And that is why both of them are the  most recognised and have been attracting international partnerships with the leading film and TV entertainment companies in the world, including Netflix, Sony Pictures and Disney.

Mo was the first to gain international recognition with the influential Hollywood Reporter calling her Africa's answer to Oprah Winfrey and named her among Hollywood Reporter's MIPCOM's 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV.
Then the highly esteemed Forbes magazine named her Africa's Most Successful Woman. 
In 2021, She was selected to become a Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the annual Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars.

Her international honours within 11 years have been really groundbreaking as a trailblazer for Nigerian women in the global entertainment industry.
Forbes Africa recognised Mo Abudu as the first African woman to own a Pan-Africa TV channel in 2013; Entrepreneur of the Year award by Women Week in New York in 2014; appointed a Director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences responsible for staging the annual International Emmy Awards.and later appointed her as the first African Chair of the 47th annual International Emmy Awards Gala, held in New York on Monday November 25, 2019; named on the Power list 2018 of UK's top 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean descent; the first African to be awarded the MIPTV's 2019 Médailles d'Honneur, in Cannes, France; named in the  Powerlist 2020 of the Top 100 most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent and featured in the Greatest Blacks Ever: Top 100 Blacks Who Changed the World for (Peace: Progress: Prosperity).

Mo did not receive all the accolades of her outstanding achievements overnight. She started with her "Moments with Mo" on TV like the Oprah Winfrey Show that inspired her as she told the New York Times in her recent most comprehensive interview last week.
She talked about her influential family backgrounds, childhood dreams, education and top flight professional career as brand ambassador for AVON Cosmetics for the African market; HR consultant with Atlas Recruitment Consultancy firm in the UK; the Starform Group; Head of HR for Arthur Andersen and HR & Training for ExxonMobil. She was the Founder of Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited.

Her passion for the film and TV entertainment industry is powered by her vision to excel, succeed  and triumph in spite of the economic and societal challenges of Nigeria in competition with the best in the world. 


Chioma Ude has paid her dues before she became the first Nigerian woman to be in Variety's Annual International Women’s Impact Report for 2020

Before, Chioma became a trailblazer for Nollywood, she has been an Amazon in Corporate Nigeria as the Managing Director and CEO of JATA Logistics Ltd. Then she invested in the blossoming Nollywood as she co-organised and co-hosted the successful 6th ION International Film Festival (IONIFF) (a touring festival originating from Hollywood) in 2009 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with the organizing committee of experts, including Peace Anyiam-Osigwe the founder and CEO of the annual AMAA Awards, Caterina Bortolussi, the co-producer of ION International Film Festival, Soledad Grognett, Ilaria Chessa, June Givanni, Alessandra Speciale and Celine Loader. Then the following year, 2010, she founded and organised the first edition of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in December and she has made it the numero uno of film festivals in Nigeria and West Africa.
She has invested her resources and quality time on the international profile of the film festival as I reported in my widely circulated "AFRIFF International Film Festival Brings Hollywood-Style Glitz and Glamour To Lagos"
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2011/12/afriff-international-film-festival.

AFRIFF has awarded scholarships for international courses in filmmaking and film studies in America and France. 

In 2019, Chioma became the Co-Founder and Group CEO of Envivo Communications Limited, a multifaceted convergence of the entertainment industry, educational developments and technological applications for the fintech Industry.
Envivo launched the nVivo TV, a 
free video on demand streaming platform that offers diverse content from the best content providers in the world.

By their visionary leadership, Mo Abudu and Chioma Ude have shown us the Big Picture of Nollywood of the future as one of the most dynamic creative developments in the global entertainment industry of the 21st century.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor, 
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi




Friday, July 30, 2021

Netflix is Improving the Quality of Nollywood To World Class Standards

Netflix is Improving the Quality of Nollywood To World Class Standards

#Netflix is actually helping #Nollywood to improve the quality of film and TV productions in the Nigerian film industry.

But MultiChoice is still accepting substandard movies from #Nollywood for the Africa Magic. They come cheap for as low as US$1200 per movie.

The producers say being seen on #DStv is an achievement and Netflix is their ultimate dream. Making it to Netflix is like winning an #Oscar to Nollywood filmmakers.

Netflix should only accept Nollywoood or #Kannywood movies with Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, because it would boost the quality of the sound in the film and TV productions. 

Your sound begins from writing the screenplay: from the first draft and not the copy and paste soundtracks during the post production which is the common practice in Nollywood.

Using Dolby Vision is not rocket science. 

If Nollywood wants to improve on the quality of productions to qualify for the official selections of top international film festivals and nominations for the Academy Awards, Nigerian filmmakers have to use the same benchmarks for international productions as their counterparts and peers in the leading film Industries in the world.

And I am still waiting for the first Nigerian movie with Dolby Vision.


- By Ekeyerengozi MichaeI Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series,

@247nigeria Twitter

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood Prefer Fair and Light Skinned Actresses

Hollywood Actresses.

If you have been bingewatching Nollywood movies, you would have seen that majority of the Actresses are competing to look like the actresses in Bollywood and Hollywood in makeup, hairstyles and haute couture on the red carpets. They want to be fair and light skinned and with wavy long hairs. They are the most influential models who have made a "staggering 77% of women in Nigeria to use skin-lightening products. The skincare and cosmetics industry is taking advantage of their craze for lighter skin according to a report by the United Nations published on https//www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2019-july-2019/paying-high-price-skin-bleaching


Many of the young women in Nollywood and the Nigerian society want to look as fair and pretty as the celebrated Nollywood actresses like Monalisa Chinda, Tonto Dikeh and Mercy Aigbe. And so they bleach the skin to boost their self-esteem and egos among their peers. 

The actors (both male and female) say there is a rule of thumb preference for fair and light skinned people in the entertainment industry for decades in Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood.

The controversial #OscarsSoWhite campaign years ago on the predominantly white nominees with the exclusion of filmmakers of colour made the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to come up with programs and rules to favour diversity in the film industry and campaign against racism. But colorism is in fact worse than racism, because "Colorism is the practice of favoring lighter skin over darker skin by people of the same race and tribe. The preference for lighter skin can be seen within any racial or ethnic background. Such as preference for  Asians and Africans of fair and light complexion in the film industry. You can see the preference in over 90 percent of the movies, TV series and music videos. 

Colourism is encouraging skin bleaching and the popularity of skin lightening creams, lotions and pills which the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning about the harmful side effects of dangerous consequences, including dermatitis (skin irritation), blue-black discolouration, skin cancer and even blindness.


- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series.

Fair and White So White Skin Perfector Serum 30ml - For Face, Elbows Knees, Feet - with Kojic Acid and Castor Oil

#fairandwhite

#beauty


Fair and White So White Skin Perfector Serum 30ml - For Face, Elbows Knees, Feet - with Kojic Acid and Castor Oil

A complete range of Lightening and Brightening Skin care products for modern young women of all complexions. 

Monday, June 21, 2021

SHOWTIME'S MOVIE OF THE MONTH: Promising Young Woman



The movie poster won Best Poster of the Year by IMP Awards in 2021.
 


Promising Young Woman is a 2020 black comedy thriller film written, produced, and directed by Emerald Fennell (in her feature directorial debut). The film stars Carey Mulligan as a young woman seeking to avenge the death oft her best friend who was a rape victim. It also features Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, and Connie Britton in supporting roles. 

Promising Young Woman had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 25, 2020, by Focus Features. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at its screenplay, direction, and Mulligan's performance, and grossed $15 million worldwide. The film won the Best Original Screenplay at the 93rd Academy Awards, with additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Mulligan) and Best Film Editing. Fennell also won Best Original Screenplay at the Critics' Choice Awards, Writers' Guild Awards and British Academy Film Awards.




Sunday, June 6, 2021

Leos Carax Makes "Annette" Masterpiece of Modern Cinema



"Annette" by Leos Carax is an awesome poetic romantic musical drama that is going to become an all time classic in modern cinema.


The cinematography by Caroline Champetier is awesome in poetic imagery of impressionism.  

Adam Driver as "Henry McHenry" and Marion Cotillard as "Ann Defrasnoux" were outstanding in unforgettable performances of their iconic characters of two famous entertainers who became starstruck lovers in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world.

Synopsis:

Present-day Los Angeles. Henry is an outspoken stand-up comedian, Ann a world-famous singer. They’re a happy celebrity couple, living life in the glare of the spotlight, but their world is turned upside-down by the birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny.

The opening film of the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival is most likely going to win the Palme d'Or. 

I  look forward to seeing it nominated for the Best Picture and other Oscars at the next Academy Awards of the Academy  of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), in 2022.

Release Date:

Friday, August 6, 2021 (Limited)

Friday, August 20, 2021 (PrimeVideo)

 Runtime: 2 rs, 20m  

Language: English

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Discover the Best of Movies, TV Series and Documentaries on Vuulr


Discover the best award winning movies, TV series, documentaries and reality TV shows on Vuulr.

Vuulr is the global online content marketplace for premium Film & TV content rights, connecting distributors and buyers of content worldwide.
Vuulr has listed 135,000 hours of content in more than 60 genres and 70 languages on Vuulr.

Sellers on the online entertainment content marketplace include Sony, Legendary Television, Gaumont, Televisa, Viacom 18, CNN, Caracol, as well as indies creators.

Registered buyers include The Walt Disney Company, Viacom International Media Networks, Turner International Asia Pacific, BBC, Super RTL, Public Media Co Vietnam, Astro, MX Player, UKTV and SBS amongst others.

The company said that licensing transactions on its platform close in 10 days on an average.
Films rights sold on Vuulr included Academy Awards winners.

Monday, April 26, 2021

93rd Annual Academy Awards: Full List of the Winners

Emerald Fennell accepts the Oscar® for Original Screenplay during the live ABC Telecast of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021. credit: Todd Wawrychuk / A.M.P.A.S. http://photos.presslist.oscars.org/listanevent.php?events=2426.



ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Anthony Hopkins, The Father

Gary Oldman, Mank

Steven Yeun, Minari

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

BEST PICTURE

The Father, David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers

Judas and the Black Messiah, Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers

Mank, Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers

Minari, Christina Oh, Producer

Nomadland, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers

Promising Young Woman, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers

Sound of Metal, Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers

The Trial of the Chicago 7, Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Fight for You,” from Judas and the Black Messiah; Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

“Hear My Voice,” from The Trial of the Chicago 7; Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

“Husavik,” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

“Io Si (Seen),” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se); Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

“Speak Now,” from One Night in Miami...; Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Da 5 Bloods, Terence Blanchard

Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Minari, Emile Mosseri

News of the World, James Newton Howard

Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

JEAN HERSHOT HUMANITARIAN AWARD

Tyler Perry

FILM EDITING

Yorgos Lamprinos, The Father

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Frédéric Thoraval, Promising Young Woman

Mikkel E. G. Nielsen, Sound of Metal

Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Judas and the Black Messiah, Sean Bobbitt

Mank, Erik Messerschmidt

News of the World, Dariusz Wolski

Nomadland, Joshua James Richards

The Trial of the Chicago 7, Phedon Papamichael

PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Father, Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton

Mank, Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

News of the World, Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

Tenet, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy

Olivia Colman, The Father

Amanda Seyfried, Mank

Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

VISUAL EFFECTS

Love and Monsters, Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox

The Midnight Sky, Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

Mulan, Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

The One and Only Ivan, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

Tenet, Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Collective, Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana

Crip Camp, Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder

The Mole Agent, Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez

My Octopus Teacher, Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Colette, Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

A Concerto Is a Conversation, Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

Do Not Split, Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook

Hunger Ward, Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman

A Love Song for Latasha, Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Onward, Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae

Over the Moon, Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley

Soul, Pete Docter and Dana Murray

Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Burrow, Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat

Genius Loci, Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise

If Anything Happens I Love You, Will McCormack and Michael Govier

Opera, Erick Oh

Yes-People, Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Feeling Through, Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski

The Letter Room, Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan

The Present, Farah Nabulsi and Ossama Bawardi

Two Distant Strangers, Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe

White Eye, Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

SOUND

Greyhound, Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

Mank, Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

News of the World, Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

Soul, Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

Sound of Metal, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michellee Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

DIRECTING

Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round

David Fincher, Mank

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

COSTUME DESIGN

Emma, Alexandra Byrne

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ann Roth

Mank, Trish Summerville

Mulan, Bina Daigeler

Pinocchio, Massimo Cantini Parrini

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Emma, Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze

Hillbilly Elegy, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson

Mank, Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff

Pinocchio, Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah

Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami...

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Another Round, Denmark

Better Days, Hong Kong

Collective, Romania

The Man Who Sold His Skin, Tunisia

Quo Vadis, Aida? Bosnia and Herzegovina

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad

The Father, Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

Nomadland, Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao

One Night in Miami…, Screenplay by Kemp Powers

The White Tiger, Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Judas and the Black Messiah, Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas

Minari, Written by Lee Isaac Chung

Promising Young Woman, Written by Emerald Fennell

Sound of Metal, Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance

The Trial of the Chicago 7, Written by Aaron Sorkin


Sunday, April 25, 2021

The 93rd Annual Academy Awards Are Here!

The 2021 Oscars ceremony begins at 8pm ET Sunday April 25, on ABC, broadcasting live from both Union Station and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC is extending its coverage of the 2021 Oscars with a pre-show beginning at 6:30pm ET (“Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” hosted by Ariana Debose and Lil Rel Howery) and a post-show airing after the Oscars ceremony (“Oscars: After Dark,” with Colman Domingo and Andrew Rannells).

All three programs — “Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” “The Oscars,” and “Oscars: After Dark” — will be available to watch live via ABC.COM and the ABC app, although you will have to provide a cable subscriber log-in in order to access the live stream. Viewers without cable can tune-in by subscribing to a variety of platforms that carry ABC, including Hulu + Live TVYouTubeTVAT&T TV, and FuboTV.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/04/watch-2021-oscars-live-stream-online-1234632521/


Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE deserves the #Oscar for Best Actor for his astonishing leading role of "Anthony" in Florian Zeller's "The Father".

A classic psychopathethic drama on dementia.

The Synopsis:

Almost 80, mischievous, caustic, and defiantly living alone, Anthony rejects each and every hired caretaker that his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), lovingly introduces. Anne is desperate for help. She can’t make daily visits anymore, and Anthony’s grip on reality is unraveling. Given the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can he cling to? Anne grieves the loss of her father as he lives and breathes before her—but doesn’t she have the right to live her own life?




Saturday, April 17, 2021

A Dream of Meeting Bong Joon-ho

A Dream of Meeting Bong Joon-ho

I had an usual dream before dawn in which I saw documents like a brochure and passport on my bed in the room of a hotel or a guest house. I saw "Bong" written on the brochure slightly overlapping the passport. The scene faded in a flash. Then another scene appeared and I was meeting with Bong Joon-ho in the lobby of a venue for an event. 

Bong is the famous South Korean filmmaker of critically acclaimed films, including his directorial debut film, "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (2000), "Memories of Murder (2003), and the record making "Parasite" (2019), the highest-grossing South Korean film in history; the first South Korean film to win the highly coveted Palme d'Or of the 2019 annual Cannes Film Festival, @festivaldecannes in France and the first South Korean film to receive nominations for the #Oscars; and at the 92nd Academy Awards won the: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. "Parasite" is the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and became the first non-English language film to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. 

Why did I dream of travelling and meeting Bong Joon-ho?Are we going to meet for international awards or international co-production?

One of my unusual stories which I think Bong can direct the film adaptation is "Hysterics" about sin, insanity and redemption. A surrealistic drama of unforeseen circumstances that resulted in the encounter of a monk with an insane prostitute in a brothel. But how did a Roman Catholic monk end up in a brothel of drunkards, gamblers and prostitutes?

-  ByEkenyerengozi Michael Chima 

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima


Sunday, February 14, 2021

Did Anyone in #Nollywood Celebrate the Global Movie Day?


#Sundayvibes💋✌🏼️💕

Did Anyone in #Nollywood Celebrate the Global Movie Day?

Yes. I did!

It would have been a big day to attract more movie goers to the cinemas and new subscribers to cable TV channels and OTT streaming channels.

I am already inspired to host an event of unforgettable cinematic experience to celebrate the next #GlobalMovieDay !

You can never guess!

Just wait for it!💋✌🏼️💕


The second annual Global Movie Day was held on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

Global Movie Day is held on the second Saturday of February every year, to celebrate the power movies have to reach, connect and inspire people around the world.

How to Celebrate:


Celebrate Global Movie Day this year by discussing movies that have inspired you, post your favorite movie lines or the greatest film posters of all time, rewatch your favorite movies with friends and family or discover something new!

No matter how you choose to celebrate, be sure to take pictures & videos and share them across social media using #GlobalMovieDay .







Saturday, January 9, 2021

So, What is NOLLYWOOD?

Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, famous Nigerian actress trained in the UK and  featured in "A Warm December" directed by Sidney Poitier.

The first groundbreaking Nigerian home video was Jimi Odumosu's "Evil Encounter", a 1980 horror movie for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that was pirated on video cassettes at the Alaba International Market on the outskirts of Lagos. 
The first Nigerian movie, shot directly on video was  "Soso Meji" of 1988 by Ade Ajiboye, followed by Alade Aromire's "Ekun" (1989), 
"Turmin Danya" (The Draw")/in 1990,  was the first commercially successful Kannywood home video; Jide Kosoko's "Asiri Nla" 1992 and "Asewo To Re Mecca" of 1992 by Adebayo Salami, popularly known as "Oga Bello".

Dr. Christian Chika Onu

Any documentary film on the history of Nollywood without them is not the conmplete true history of Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

The first Nollywood blockbuster home vodeo movie in the Igbo language was "Living in Bondage" 1 of 1992 by Chris Obi Raou and the sequel, "Living in Bondage" 2 of 1993 by Chika Christian Onu of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). 

How Nollywood Redefined Conversations on African Cinema and Culture 
From Analog To Digital
Is Nollywood a child of necessity or a phenomenon of ingenuity?
The guerrilla filmmakers in Nigeria who started the phenomenon of the first indie film industry in Africa were driven by necessity, ingenuity and opportunity.

How I Fell in Love with the Cinema

My great father of blessed memory, Sunday "Sunny" Eke loved going to cinemas almost daily, because he loved movies; especially #Hollywood western cowboys movies of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, war films and #Bollywood movies such as "Sholay" and "Seeta aur Geeta" and I loved the Bollywood legends; Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini,, Dharmendra Singh Deol , Sanjeev Kumar and lest I forget the most celebrated nautch dancer in Hindi romantic films, Helen Anne Richardson Khan.  My father never sat down to watch any movie on TV. He would just glance at the popular Bonanza western cowboys series and Combat series on World War 2.

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-i-fell-in-love-with-cinema.html

The Most Appreciated Film Writer in Nigeria
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-most-appreciated-film-writer-in.html
Do you know that the Alpha Man, EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima is the most appreciated film writer on #Nollywood and the film industry by filmmakers and other major stakeholders in the Nigerian film industry since 2012. He has written on the Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival since 2008 to date and accurately predicted the winner of the Oscars for the Best Picture and Best Director in 2017 won by Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water". He has also written definitive articles on Nollywood and history of the Nigerian cinema published on Indiewire and by SHADOW&ACT Author Post List 

https://shadowandact.com/author/MichaelChima.

Nigeria: #Nollywood#Kannywood and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/11/nigeria-nollywood-kannywood-and-academy.html

Fincho: The Making of the First Nigerian Film in Colour By Sam Zebba

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/10/fincho-making-of-first-nigerian-film-in.html

Photo of Chinua Achebe and Hansjürgen Pohland on the Location of "Bullfrog in the Sun" in Ibadan
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/12/photo-of-chinua-achebe-and-hansjurgen.html

GIOVANNI ROSMAN: The First Canadian Actor in Nollywood

http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-first-canadian-actor-in-nollywood.html?m=1

Why Nollywood Filmmakers Have Failed To Qualify for the Oscars and Cannes
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2019/04/why-nollywood-filmmakers-have-failed-to.html

When Will Nollywood Movies Make the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival?
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/10/when-will-nollywood-movies-make.html

TOP 20 Nigerian Filmmakers From 2012-2020

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/05/top-20-nigerian-filmmakers-from-2012.html

Bankrolling Nollywood: The Challenges and Benefits of Film Finance
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2019/03/bankrolling-nollywood-challenges-and.html

über Nollywood
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/10/uber-nollywood.html

Anachronisms in #Nollywood Igbo Epic Movies and Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò History
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/10/anachronisms-in-nollywood-igbo-epic.html

The Importance of a Database, Library and Museum for the Nigerian Film Industry
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-importance-of-database-library-and.html

Does Our National Assembly Know Anything About the Nigerian Entertainment Industry?
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/12/does-our-national-assembly-know.html

NOLLYWOOD is the National Treasure of Nigeria
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/12/nollywood-is-national-treasure-of.html

#Nollywood Rising: Welcome To Asaba!
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/11/nollywood-rising-welcome-to-asaba.html

Netflix Needs Cinemas and Cinemas Need Netflix
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/09/netflix-needs-cinemas-and-cinemas-need.html

The Encyclopaedia of Nollywood and the Nigerian Film Industry
https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-encyclopaedia-of-nollywood-and.html

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series