Five outstanding Nigerians, including distinguished directors Newton Aduaka and Blessing Effiom Egbe, accomplished actors Funke Akindele-Bello and Daniel K. Daniel and notable talent agent Josiah Akinyele are among 397 New Members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2022.
Membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity. This year's class of invitees includes 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners.
According to the Academy, the "membership process is by sponsorship, not application. Candidates must be sponsored by two Academy members from the branch to which the candidate seeks admission."
1. Daniel Kanayo Daniel in "A Soldier's Story" 2015, for which he won the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) and the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) awards for Best Actor and in the sequel "A Soldier's Story 2" in 2021 acquired by Lionsgate.
2. JLeo Uche in "Rough Chase", 2015 and *A Trip To Libya", 2020.
JLeo Uche comes top of the league of action heroes for his outstanding expertise in martial arts and choreography of unarmed combat in duels.
3. Abbey Abimbola, aka Crackydon, in "BlackOut", 2021, his first Nollywood blockbuster action movie opening at the cinemas next month.
One of the three action thrillers will be the Best Nigerian Action Movie of the Year.
These three actors are currently the best Nigerian action heroes in Nollywood, the phenomenal first indie film industry in Africa that is rated the second largest in the world after the Bollywood of India in the annual quantity of movies. And has attracted Netflix, the #1 streaming video service in the world with more than 209 million subscribers so far.
"A Soldier's Story 2" Becomes First Nollywood Movie To Be Acquired by Lionsgate.
Congratulations to Nollywood for another international breakthrough in the global film industry with the acquisition of “A Soldier’s Story 2- Return from the Dead” by Lionsgate of America. The sequel to the multiple award-winning film, “A Soldier’s Story” has become the biggest acquisition of a Nigerian movie since the acquisition of "'76" at the 2016 annual Toronto International Film International (TIFF).
"A Soldier's Story 2- Return from the Dead" directed by Frankie Ogar and produced by Martin Gbados is a star-studded thriller starrying Academy Awards nominated actor, Eric Roberts with fellow Hollywood actors, John J. Vogel and Berit Glaser alongside outstanding Nigerian actors Daniel K Daniel, Alex Usifo, Akin Lewis, Segun Arinze, Linda Ejiofor, Somekele Iyamah-Idalamah, Michelle Dede, Tope Tedela, Baaj Adeuble and Sambasa Nzeribe with popular Ghanaian actor Chris Attoh and Zimbabwean born actress/TV host, Vimbai Mutinhiri-Ekpenyong.
The film is showing on Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Comcast Xfinity, FandangoNOW, YouTube, Redbox, FlixFling, DIRECTV online and Apple TV.
I am happy about this good news, because this is the Big Picture of the future of Nollywood I predicted in the first edition of the NOLLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series published in 2013 in Raleigh, NC, USA and the movies I selected as the top 10 most anticipated Nigerian movies in the second edition in 2014 included "'76" directed by Izu Ojukwu and "Ojuju" by Fiery Obasi that later won top awards. And as I said in my TV interview on the Morning Ride of NTA2 on May 29, 2021; that with the same advanced digital cinema cameras, Nigerian filmmakers are making highly rated movies of the same quality with the best movies in Hollywood and Bollywood.
The international competition for Nigerian film and TV productions will increase the appreciation of Nollywood in the global film industry. The Big Picture is getting bigger and I can see Nigerian movies pulling crowds of moviegoers at the cinemas in America, the UK and other countries and among the highest grossing movies at the box office.
