Chinonye Chukwu was born in Port Harcourt in Nigeria is an Alaskan-raised screenwriter, producer and director. A recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award, Chinonye’s short, The Dance Lesson, premiered at the Ritz Theater of Philadelphia and was later acquired by MindTV for regional network distribution. The film was also a Regional Finalist for the 2010 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Student Academy Awards and an Honorary Mention at the Los Angeles International Film Festival. Chinonye’s other work includes Igbo Kwenu!, a recipient of the PIFVA Subsidy Grant from the independent film community and both the “Best Motion Picture Award” and “Best Screenplay Award” at the 2009 Diamond Screen Festival. In 2012 she completed her first feature narrative, Alaskaland, the story of an estranged Nigerian-American brother and sister who reunite in their Alaskan hometown. Her 2019 death row drama, Clemency, starring Alfre Woodard and Aldis Hodge, which she wrote and directed, received the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2019. She is a director on the TV series, Americanah, based on the novel of the same name by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her 2022, critically acclaimed, biographical drama, Till, based on the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley, received numerous awards and nominations.
"What matters most in filmmaking is not the size of your camera, but the size of your imagination."
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, Publisher/Editor, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series, The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 2013.
Case study: Mami Wata: Directed by C.J. 'Fiery' Obasi.
Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, USA.
Mami Wata won the PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE Pauline S. Vieyra (African Critics Award) at the Special Awards Gala.Next, the drama received the MEILLEUR IMAGE (Cinematography Award) and finally the MEILLEUR DÉCOR (Set Design Award) at the Closing Awards Ceremony of the 2023 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO) on March 4, 2023, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Complete list of winners of the 28the FESPACO FICTION FEATURE FILM – Golden Stallion of Yennenga: “Ashkal” by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia) – Silver Stallion: “Sira”, by Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso) – Bronze Stallion: “Shimoni” by Angela Wamai (Kenya) – Best Performance by an actor: the whole cast of “Sous les figues” by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia) – Best Actress: All the actresses of “Sous les figues” by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia) – Best set design: “Mami Wata” by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria) – Best editing: “Abu Saddam” by Nadine Khan (Egypt) – Best Screenplay: “Le Bleu du caftan” by Maryam Touzani (Morocco) – Image Award: “Mami Wata” by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria) – Sound Award: “Ashkal” by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia) – Best Music: “Our Lady of the Chinese Shop” by Ery Claver (Angola) – Special Mention of the Jury: “Regarde les étoiles” by David Constantin (Mauritius) FICTION SHORT FILM – Golden Foal Short Fiction: “Will my parents come to see me” by Mo Harawe (Somalia) – Silver foal short fiction : ” A doll ” by Andriaminosa Hary and Joel Rakotovelo (Madagascar) – Bronze foal short fiction: “Tsutsue” by Amartei Armar (Ghana) DOCUMENTARIES – Golden Stallion feature documentary: “Omi Nobu/L’Homme nouveau” by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cape Verde) – Silver Stallion feature documentary: “Nous, étudiants” by Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic) – Bronze Stallion feature-length documentary: “Guardian of the Worlds” by Leïla Chaïbi (Algeria)
– Golden Foal short documentary: “Angle mort” by Lofti Achour (Tunisia) – Silver foal short documentary: “Katanga nation” by Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia) – Bronze Foal short documentary: “Kelasi” by Fransix Tenda Lomba (DRC) – Special Mention of the Jury: “L’Envoyée de Dieu” by Amina Mamani (Niger) and “Cuba en Afrique” by Negash Abdurahman (Ethiopia) PERSPECTIVES SECTION – Paul Robeson Award to the feature documentary “The Spectre of Boko Haram” by Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon) BURKINA FASO SECTION – Best Burkinabe film: “Laabli l’insaisissable” by Luc Youlouka Damiba. – Best Burkinabe hopeful: “Le Botaniste” by Floriane Zoundi
"Nanny" is an awesome mystical, paranormal and surrealistic horror movie.
Aisha played by the Senegalese American actress and model, Anna Diop, is an undocumented young Senegalese woman working as a nanny for an affluent Manhattan family and she hopes her new job as a nanny will help bring her young son, Lamine to the United States. However, when a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and reality, it theatens to destroy everything she's fought for.
The young female director, Nikyatu Jusu is a genius of great imagination which can be seen in the gripping cinematography of this film. The cinematographer, Rina Yang is a master of cinematic imagery and poetry in motion picture. It was really awesome.
"Nanny" deserved the Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic Competition it won at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
It was a great opening film for the 2022 annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) that started yesterday evening at the FilmHouse Cinemas in the Landmark Centre on Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Announced by the five international Juries during the Awards Ceremony that was held on Saturday 10th September at 7:00 pm.
VENEZIA 79
The VENEZIA 79 Jury, chaired by Julianne Moore and comprised of Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Audrey Diwan, Leila Hatami, Kazuo Ishiguro and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, having viewed all 23 films in competition, has decided as follows:
GOLDEN LION for Best Film to:
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
by Laura Poitras (USA)
SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE to:
SAINT OMER
by Alice Diop (France)
SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to:
Luca Guadagnino
for the film BONES AND ALL (USA, Italy)
COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett
in the film TÁR by Todd Field (USA)
COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actor:
Colin Farrell
in the film THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by Martin McDonagh (Ireland, UK, USA)
AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to:
Martin McDonagh
for the film THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by Martin McDonagh (Ireland, UK, USA)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to:
KHERS NIST (NO BEARS)
by Jafar Panahi (Iran)
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD
for Best Young Actor or Actress to:
Taylor Russell
in the film BONES AND ALL by Luca Guadagnino (USA, Italy)
ORIZZONTI
The ORIZZONTI Jury of the 79th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Isabel Coixet and comprised of Laura Bispuri, Antonio Campos, Sofia Djama and Edouard Waintrop, after screening the 18 feature-length films and 12 short films in competition has decided to award:
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM to:
Jang-e Jahani Sevom (WORLD WAR III)
by Houman Seyedi (Iran)
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
for the film VERA (Austria)
SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE to:
CHLEB I SÓL (BREAD AND SALT)
by Damian Kocur (Poland)
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS to:
Vera Gemma
in the film VERA by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Austria)
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR to:
Mohsen Tanabandeh
in the film JANG-E JAHANI SEVOM (WORLD WAR III) by Houman Seyedi (Iran)
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to:
Fernando Guzzoni
for the film BLANQUITA by Fernando Guzzoni (Chile, Mexico, Luxembourg, France, Poland)
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM to:
SNOW IN SEPTEMBER
by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia)
VENICE SHORT FILM NOMINATION FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2022 to:
SNOW IN SEPTEMBER
by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia)
ORIZZONTI EXTRA
ARMANI BEAUTY AUDIENCE AWARD to:
NEZOUH
by Soudade Kaadan (UK, Syria, France)
VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM
LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM Jury at the 79th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Michelangelo Frammartino and comprised of Jan Matuszyński, Ana Rocha de Sousa, Tessa Thompson and Rosalie Varda has decided to award:
LION OF THE FUTURE
“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to:
SAINT OMER
by Alice Diop (France)
VENICE CLASSICS
The VENICE CLASSICS Jury, chaired by Giulio Base and comprised of 21 students of Cinema, chosen from the professors of Italian University Cinema programmes, has decided to award:
VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA to:
FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE
by KD Davison (USA)
VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST RESTORED FILM to:
Koroshi no Rakuin (BRANDED TO KILL)
by Suzuki Seijun (Japan, 1967)
VENICE IMMERSIVE
The VENICE IMMERSIVE Jury, chaired by May Abdalla and comprised of David Adler and Blanca Li, after viewing the 30 projects in competition has decided to award:
12th Annual iREP Documentary Film Festival Opens with "President" in Lagos
The 12th annual iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival opened today in Lagos, Africa's largest megacity with more than 80 films from over 28 countries.
The festival runs from March 17 - 20, 2022 at different locations, including the traditional venue, Freedom Park on Broad Street, Terra Kulture on Victoria Island and the Art Factory Hall of the Crown Troupe of Africa in Bariga on the mainland of Lagos city.
The festival opened with "President", a 2021 documentary film by Camilla Nielsson on the state of democracy, in Zimbabwe, showing behind-the-scenes at the 2018 election that followed the ousting of President Robert Mugabe and the closing film is "Garderie Nocturne - Night Nursery" directed by Moumouni Sanou.
The film won the Best Documentary film grand prize at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, FESPACO in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The 2022 iREP Festival continues with it's conceptual framework of "Africa in Self-Conversation", exploring the theme ‘UNFILTERED: African Stories. Stories from Africa; to examine “how Africa is being represented or otherwise by filmmakers and storytellers who engage her issues.”
"More satisfying is the fact that many African anglophone and francophone filmmakers converge annually at iREP to attend our Producers Roundtable events. We create the perfect opportunity for collaborations and co-productions through various networking events,” said Femi Odugbemi, Cofounder and Executive Director of iREP.
See the daily updates on https://irepfilmfestival.com
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The Nigeria Prize for Literature is the biggest prize in African literature worth US$100,000 to the winner. It is fully sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited, that founded it in 2004 for outstanding literary works by Nigerian authors in Nigeria.
The prize rotates among four genres; fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature: repeating the cycle every four years.
I was opportuned to be with the inaugural members of the organising committee during their meeting in 2004, at the Federal Palace Hotel & Casino on Victoria Island, Lagos. I went there to meet with the famous Nigerian novelist, Eddie Iroh and Ms. Siene Allwell-Brown, the famous broadcaster at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) who was now, the General Manager for External Affairs of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Limited. The Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo was there. His beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Banjo came second to me when I won the first prize in a national essay competition sponsored by the Pop Magazine for children and teens in 1976.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature is laudable for improving the welfare of the winners. But it has not improved the literary culture of Nigeria. It has failed to achieve what other coveted literary prizes have achieved in America, Europe, Asia and Australia where winning a major prize for literature makes the winner a bestselling author by boosting the celebrity status, increasing the popularity and increasing the demand for the winning author and the winning book like the Pulitzer Prize in America and the Booker Prize in the UK. The news will make local and international headlines and will increase the public appreciation and sales of the books among readers. But contrary to our expectations, majority of literate people in Nigeria don't even know the titles of the winning books of the Nigeria Prize for Literature. If you doubt me, do a public opinion on radio and TV on the streets of Lagos, Abuja and other cities in the country, and you will see how clueless and ignorant majority of Nigerians are about the so called most prestigious literary prize in Africa and the winning books.
What makes it prestigious? The prestige of the worth of the cash prize of US$100, 000 or the intellectual esteem of the winning authors?
The sponsor of the Nigeria Prize for Literature and their public relations company have failed to use the prize for the appreciation of the reading culture which is most vital to the improvement of the literary culture of Nigeria where majority of Nigerians don't read books, except for the recommended text books for pupils and students. Majority of Nigerians stop reading after graduation and after their professional examinations.
Just handing out US$100, 000 to the author of the book selected as best entry in the national competition is not enough to improve the lives of Nigerian authors and improve the literary culture of Nigeria without making sure that Nigerians read their books and celebrate their literary achievements as examplary role models worthy of emulation in the inspiration for outstanding success in human development and the advancement of modern civilisation in Nigeria.
Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka sitting with Adeleke Adeyemi and his wife Wosilat Adeyemi at the event of The Nigeria Prize for Literature award ceremony on February 6, 2012, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
The Federal Ministry of Education and ministries of education in the 36 states and Abuja should be involved in the appreciation of the Nigeria Prize for Literature to make recommendations for the winning books to be included in the selections for reading booklists of primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions. For example, I recommended that Adeleke Adeyemi's Children's story book, "The Missing Clock", that won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2011 should be on the reading list for primary schools in Nigeria and in particularly in Ekiti state, the state of origin of the author. And the Federal Ministry of Education should purchase as many copies as possible for distribution to all the public schools in the country. The prize winning authors should have interviews on radio and TV and the governors of their states should celebrate them.
There should be reading and book signing tours for the winning authors to selected schools and tertiary institutions; to clubs like the Ikoyi Club, Metropolitan Club, Capital Club, Ikeja Country Club and other locations that will increase the appreciation and cultivation of literary culture in the Nigerian society.
