See You in Cannes 2

See You in Cannes 2



I have just seen the Publisher of Supple magazine off to France at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos. He and Justice from This Day newspaper will be on the Air France to Nice from where they will go to Cannes to join the thousands of accredited journalists, filmmakers, movie stars, film aficionados and others from all over the world for the 62nd Festival de Cannes.
Faruk Lasaki the director of Changing Faces, the most successful Nigerian movie so far left for Cannes last Tuesday accompanied by his sister Kemi Lasaki and one of his office workers. Fidelis Duker and his amiable wife Temitope left for Cannes last Night. The delegation of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) will be at the Nigerian pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, but I do not know if any Nigerian movie has qualified for screening or the competition. Going to Cannes is not a big deal, but competing for the highest honours is the real deal. Nollywood buffs boast that it is the third largest “film” industry in the world, but unfortunately none of the Nollywood movies has even qualified for official screening and the competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The last Nigerian delegation to Cannes turned it into a jamboree and became the laughing stock of the Cannes Film Festival for their extravagant party.
What were they celebrating?
Were they celebrating their failure to qualify for screening and competition?
I have addressed the celebration of Nigerian mediocrity in the emphasis on quality than quality in Nollywood in Mirror of Beauty and the Mirror of Nigerian Ignorance of the Cannes published on Kisses ‘n’ Roses in May 2008.

Nigerians love celebrating mediocrity and as shown in their disorganized music industry and film industry, most Nigerians careless about professionalism in entertainment.
I hope that the Nigerian delegation to Cannes would not be disgraced again.


~ Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Michael Chima is the Media Consultant of Supple magazine in Nigeria and he is also a producer and scriptwriter who is currently working on his first feature film.

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Dr. Ola Balogun: Nigeria Is Going To Cannes To Fry And Sell "Akara"?

Dr. Ola Balogun: Nigeria Is Going To Cannes To Fry And Sell "Akara"?
« on: Today at 07:06:48 PM »

As we were waiting to buy fuel at the filling station on the Commercial Avenue in Sabo, Lagos, Nigeria, I exchanged greetings with Nigeria’s foremost filmmaker, Dr. Ola Balogun and the author of the travelogue The Magic Land of Nigeria.

Orikinla: Nigeria is going to Cannes.

Dr. Ola Balogun: To do what? To fry and sell Akara?

Orikinla: Our magazine is going there to report the truth about what Nigeria is going to do at the Cannes Film Festival.

Dr. Ola Balogun: Nigerians don’t like to hear the truth.

We smiled.

Nigerian administrators of the film industry like the Nigerian Film Corporation and others have been making an annual pilgrimage to the Cannes Film Festival to display their audio-visual products at a pavilion and have never been able to make any film that has qualified for the screening and competition. Notable Nigerian director and founder /CEO of the Abuja International Film Festival, Fidelis Duker said it is an annual jamboree for Nigeria to go to Cannes and waste millions of naira to display their ignorance.

See You in Cannes (Part 1)

See You in Cannes (Part 1)

This morning we were at the French Consulate in Ikoyi for a visa appointment and Fidelis Duker, the COO of the Abuja International Film Festival was there as well. Supple magazine and a selection of Nigerian newspapers have been given press accreditation for the forthcoming 62nd Festival de Cannes. Fidelis Duker is one of the most hardworking professionals doing their best for the sustainable development of the $236 million Nigerian film industry.

The Cannes Film Festival is the biggest and most popular film festival in the world and attracts the top stars of Hollywood and Bollywood to the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes south of France every May, but most of the so called leading stars of Nollywood are ignorant of Cannes. Supple magazine is going to convene the first forum on Nollywood and the Cannes film Festival to inform the Nigerian actors, actresses, marketers, and the general public on the film festival and why Nigeria should not be left of the competition at Cannes. Our goal is to challenge Nigerian filmmakers to compete for the highest honors at the Festival de Cannes.

~ Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima


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