Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Giovanni Rosman: The Canadian Man Who Came From Hollywood North To Nollywood
GIOVANNI ROSMAN was the first Canadian born actor to act in Nollywood movies.
Monday, August 23, 2021
Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi Has Passed On
The widow of Nigeria's first military Head of State, Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi is dead.
The late Chief Mrs. Aguiyi-Ironsi died peacefully Monday morning, from our sources.
Lady Aguiyi-Ironsi was to clock 98 years on November 21, this year.
The deceased widow's husband, General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed in Ibadan in a bloody coup in July 1966.
Lady Aguiyi-Ironsi never remarried ever since.
In the Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, one of her sons was appointed a Minister and Obasanjo always kept close contact with the family which he visited last in December 2019.
However, a letter from the family and signed by her son,
Amb. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi confirmed the incident.
The letter on behalf of the family was addressed to the Abia State Governor, and re
ad:
"Your Excellency,
Greetings
The Aguiyi-Ironsi family wishes to inform you that It has pleased God to call to glory Noble Lady Victoria Aguiyi - Ironsi to eternal rest
She passed on at the early hours of today August 23, 2021
I would like to discuss further details at your earliest convenience
With best regards
Amb Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi. "
*****
Aguiyi-Ironsi hails from Ndume-Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State.
Source
https://www.facebook.com/741299209388306/posts/1809646385886911
Lady Adanma Okpara Has Passed On
Lady Adanma Okpara, wife of the Premier of former Eastern Region, Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara has reportedly died at the earlier hours of Sunday, August 22, 2021. She would have been 97 by 21st December, 2021.
Family sources who revealed that the nonagenarian has been sick for a couple of years said she died after a protracted illness.
Although her second son, Chief Uzodinma Okpara could not be reached for detailed information leading to the sad news as of the time of filing this report, but informed sources said she died at an undisclosed hospital.
However, a visit to the Umuegwu Okpuala, Ohuhu country home of the Okparas at 4 pm on Sunday, showed that the unfortunate incident may have shocked their kinsmen.
Umuegwu Okpuala, Ohuhu is in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State.
Few family members were on hand to welcome the sympathisers who had come to ascertain the veracity of the news. Uzodinma Okpara, an Abia State-based politician, was absent at the time our reporter visited.
An elder in the community, who pleaded anonymity said she could not confirm or deny the news, added that “Igbo tradition forbids any announcement on the health status of a prominent individual like that of Adanma Okpara without due consultations with relevant authorities”.
Meanwhile, since the demise of her husband, Dr Michael Okpara on 17th December 1984, the nonagenarian has lived a quiet life and rarely seen in public, even when her son, Uzodinma Okpara was the Abia State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the reign of Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.
Source
https://independent.ng/wife-of-premier-former-eastern-region-lady-adanma-okpara-reportedly-died-at-96/
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Drylab's Set Report 3 App - Pro Filmmaker Apps
Drylab's Set Report 3 App - Pro Filmmaker Apps
DEVELOPER'S DESCRIPTION
Drylab Set Report 3 complements traditional set and camera reports on paper for professional digital movie and TV drama productions. User-friendly and powerful metadata capturing and management ensure consistency and quality throughout the production process. We’ve built it in collaboration with International Script Supervisors, but it’s also very suitable for other Heads of Departments, including Costume, MakeUp, VFX, Camera etc., where our unique data model can merge all inputs to one database.
Set Report 3 is a replacement for Set Report 2 (already in use on feature films and TV-series worldwide), and adds support for the latest version of our Drylab Creator™ and Viewer™. If you have SR2 already, it will install alongside it, and it can import your old reports as needed.
One of the things we realized when working with experienced Script Supervisors, is how some of the job is still very convenient to do on paper. Therefore, we haven't digitized script lines and other stuff you prefer to keep in a binder, but instead focused on making a compact digital assistant you can use on both your iPad and iPhone.
With Set Report 3, we’ve changed to a subscription model, to ensure continuous improvements, updates and integrations. We have many plans for Set Report 3 now, and we hope you will support our endeavors! We hope you that you’ll love our new app almost as much as we do!
Features:
* Logical and automatic numbering of days, shots and takes
* Integrated stopwatch to time takes, mark where the action starts, and connect clips to metadata
* Automatic file naming for RED, Canon, Sony and ARRI cameras (short and long)
* Filters, reel, clip number, file name, T-stop
* GPS positioning
* Take pictures on-set or bring in from iPhoto for reference
* Production data accessible by day, shot and take
* Extensive database of lenses and filters (and add your own)
* Tags library (and add your own)
* Circle takes, add grading notes, colour temperature, ISO speed, audio
* Silverstack integration, for direct, instant reporting
* Intuitive reporting: review, print and share using email, AirDrop or any sharing method offered by iPadOS/iOS
* And maybe your favorite feature: Customize your workspace, and choose exactly the fields you want
Friday, August 20, 2021
Re: 100 Private Jets In Kano For Yusuf Buhari's Wedding
100 Private Jets In Kano For Yusuf Buhari's Wedding
https://www.nairaland.com/6712165/100-private-jets-kano-yusuf/5#105012043
The gathering of the wolves and wolves in sheep clothing;
The gathering of the political crooks and rogues and their apologists and beneficiaries.
The political ruling class of Nigeria that has been using the camouflage of false religion and neocolonial power to divide and rule the majority of Nigerians they have been cheating, hoodwinking and exploiting since the political independence of Nigeria from the British Empire on October 1, 1960.
They exploit the gullibility and stupidity of the poor masses ruled by the herd mentality of their religion.
They don't care about the ongoing emergency of the Cholera epidemic in the country.
They don't care about the increasiing cases of the new deadly variants of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
They don't care about the horrifying kidnappings and killings of the poor and powerless people by the bandits and terrorists and other terrifying occurrences in Nigeria.
Unfortunately for the gullible and intellectually challenged poor masses, they will still troop out as voters in the general elections to vote for the political title chasers of the ruling class who are not nation builders, but political power brokers and their partners in crime and their greedy beneficiaries of the middle class.
The poor masses are always at their beck and call for cheap labour as domestic staff, low income workers and political stooges in the vicious circle of their corrupt and incompetent Machiavellian administrations.
They have destroyed the education system.
They have destroyed the health system.
They have destroyed the security system.
They have destroyed the civil service system.
They have destroyed Nigeria
What we need in Nigeria is not any election, but a revolution for the reformation and transformation of the country for the nation building of a New NIGERIA of equity and unity for the commonwealth of all Nigerians regardless of class, religion and tribe.
Only this revolution will save Nigeria from total collapse.
- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series
247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Celebrating the Life and Time of Hon. Emma Osigwe
Celebrating the Life and Time of Hon. Emma Osigwe
- By Ingram Osigwe
According to Abraham Lincoln,"in the end, it is not the years in your life that counts, it is the life in your years"
The above underpins the life trajectory of the late Hon. Emmanuel Osigwe.
Born 88 years ago in Umuopia, Akokwa, Ideato North local government area of Imo, the late Osigwe was an educationist who encouraged many young people to embrace education.
Not only did he preach the gospel of education through out Akokwa, as a headmaster, he was instrumental to the establishment of a primary school at his immediate community, Umuopia.
As a bridge-builder, he not only ensured that Akokwa kids got quality education, he also collaborated with his friend and traditional ruler of the neighbouring Umuchu in Aguata LGA Anambra State , HRH Igwe Ignatius Offorbuike( Ezeora)of blessed memory to ensure that many got admitted to Umuchu High school.
In the same manner, it was through his instrumentality and friendship with the late Umuchu monarch that several Akokwa indigenes got employed as teachers in Anambra State.
A one-time councillor in Ideato North local government, the late Hon. Osigwe was a stickler for discipline and honesty, virtues he wore like a garb through out his 88 years on earth.
He was indeed an embodiment of the virtues of honesty and integrity.
As a political leader, he held tightly, stubbornly to these virtues and applied them to his everyday conduct.
For example, piqued by the corruption that oozed from the Ideato North local government then, Hon. Osigwe had petitioned the then Imo state Military Administrator over the frivolous spending of the council Chairman, a situation that was to cost him his position as councillor, salaries and comfort.
As a politician and community, Hon Osigwe was a sincerely altruistic person, never known with no attachment to material things. He served his people selflessly, attracting development to them.
He was contented with his pension and never longed for ostentatious, ill acquired wealth. Sadly, the country he served meritoriously denied his pension to the end.
As a loving husband and father,Hon.Osigwe greatly brought his virtues and philosophies of life to bear on his household. No wonder all his children turned out shining stars in their various areas of endavour.
Right from their young age, the late Hon. Osigwe had ensured that all his children imbibed the value of education.
For example, they all grew up to see the massive library in the house which he got International Organisations to equip with books.
He would later strive to ensure that all the kids got quality education up to university level.
Emma was born when education had started to make meaning to Akokwa people. He was bracing up for the white man’s education when his father Osigwe, died in December 1940. Emma was just eight years old.
Together, his most senior brother Celestine, and their mother Nwanebe saw him through primary education. The young Emma obtained the then respected Standard Six Certificate and had a stint in teaching before proceeding to a Teachers Training.
Born in 1932, the late Hon. Osigwe was trained as a teacher at Azaraegbelu Teachers Training College where he obtained grade- three teacher's certificate and then became a full fledged teacher.
He later did a required one year course in Education and became a grade- one teacher(an equivalent of today's NCE)
His last posting was to Community Secondary School, Osina in Ideato North, Imo State from where he meritoriously retired in 1997.
Hon. Emma Osigwe spent his retirement life farming (on a higher scale), reading and writing as well as in rendering some humanitarian services.
His zeal for selfless community service was unwavering. For example, on retirement in 1997, Emma Osigwe took it upon himself to continue to check the devastating erosion from central school (near his house) to Ama-Agba junction.
To crown it all, in 2011, Emma used both his Federal and State Pension to construct deep gutters on both sides of the said road up to a point.
The news of this uncommon patriotic act got to the leadership of the Umuopia Development Union of the time. The President- General then, late Chief (Sir) Anthony C. Okpara (Aputaifeadi) approached the Opia of Umuopia, Eze (Dr) Don Opurozor who approved of a well-worded letter of commendation to this icon.
A consumate family man, In 1965, Emma met his heartthrob, a fashion- designer of all-time, late Mrs Ifeoma Osigwe (nee Munonye- Asiegbu) from Umuojii Umukegwu- Akokwa. The union was blessed with five surviving children- all with family.
A strong- willed personity, few heart rending occurances in his later life were to directly tugged at Emma's heart.
These were the death, almost in quick succession of two of his children- both science graduates- and then that of his dear wife after a protracted illness few years later.
Emma succumbed to the vagaries of old age on February 26, 2021 and was immediately buried in accordance with his last wishes.
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Nollywood and the Image of Nigeria in the Global Village
Nollywood and the Image of Nigeria in the Global Village
(Written in 2006 for an African American magazine)
We all know that action speaks louder than word and seeing is believing. And nobody can deny this fact of life.
The history of the film industry in Nigeria did not start with the emergence of Nollywood as the Nigerian movies have been dubbed by the rest of the world and now celebrated as the third largest film industry in the world after American Hollywood and Indian Bollywood.
“The world has continued to marvel at how Nigerians "manufacture" and "fabricate" scores of movies in a week. It is reported that but for India, Nigeria produces more movies in quantitative terms than any other country in the world.”
~~ Tayo Aderinokun, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank
Glover Memorial Hall was the venue of the first film to be shown in Nigeria in August, 1903 and this was done by the ruling colonial office of the British Empire that went on to show primarily educational clips, features and documentary reports of the royal trips to Nigeria and other colonies, English football matches, Westminster Parliamentary debates and other films of little or no value to the culture of Nigeria. And the cinema houses that soon showed up all over the popular cities in Nigeria from Lagos to Ibadan to Kano also showed Western films and later Indian films. But it is important to note that "Sanders of the River" by Edgar Rice Buroughs made in 1935 had some unique parts shot in Nigeria. The film featured the first world class Nigerian actor Orlando Martins (1899 – 1985) and was the first film to put the motion picture image of Nigeria on the map of the world.
Then Nigerian filmmakers such as Adamu Halilu, Mallam Brendan Shehu, Dr. Ola Balogun, Chief Eddie Ugbomah, the late Chief Hubert Ogunde and Francis Oladele produced classic films on celluloid since 1968 and Nigerian films were also competing among the foreign ones in the cinemas until the Indigenization Decree of 1972 transferred the ownership of over 300 cinema houses in the country from their foreign proprietors to Nigerians who did not have the expertise and capital to run them successfully and the economic depression of the late 1980s and the mass importation of Video Cassette Players worsened the situation as cinema houses lost the patronage of cinema goers who now preferred to buy the cheaper pirated films in video cassettes and watch them in the safer and more comfortable privacy of their homes. The popularity of home videos also affected the stage performances of plays by Nigerian playwrights as the numbers of people going to the theatres and town halls to watch live plays began to reduce. As the saying goes that necessity is the mother of invention, the challenges of survival for Nigerian theatre arts practitioners prompted them to dare the production of their plays in home videos. The Yorubas who were always the pioneers of the popular street theatre were also the pioneers of the home movies industry with “Aje Ni Iya Mi” by the late Isola Ogunsola who employed an Ibo man Nnebue of Nek Video Links to produce the video. And Nnebue seeing the great opportunity went on to produce the best selling “Living in Bondage 1 and 2” in 1992 before others joined the bandwagon. And now Nigerian movies have taken over TV screens all over Africa from Anglophone countries to the Francophone countries and over 20 million people watch Nigerian movies of which over 15 million are within Nigeria and the rest among the over 7 million Nigerians living in different parts of the world and most of them are in America, Western Europe, Asia and Australia. We are now living witnesses of the emergence of the phenomenon called Nollywood.
Over 50 movie titles are released weekly in Nollywood and attracting the attention of the rest of the world and Nollywood has become the picture of the Nigerian culture in the eyes of the world. Therefore, we must address the importance, relevance and significance of Nollywood as the image of Nigeria. As Dr. Odia Ofeimum stated in “In Defence of the Films We Have Made” in his keynote address at the second National Film Festival, 27 November 2003 and I quote:
“Powered by its home-grown sense which has been the source of its viability, it was primed to travel and to breach porous borders. Nigerians travel a lot and their video films have been traveling with them. Due to the surprise of self-recognition in our stories or the manner in which Nigerians tell them, other people have connected with the video films. So it was not enough to overcome the Nigerian market place. Through saturation marketing, Nigerian home-video mania crossed the borders even beyond the necessities of trade. Once the barn-storm-rating of the video camera overtook the cinema house, and by-passed its camp-following of foreign dominated distribution networks, it began to turn into a super-asset in a makeshift revolution that only those who are thoroughly impervious to social promptings have been able to ignore. The rest of the world may not have wanted to pay attention.”
(http://www.westafricareview.
Therefore, I believe the next stage of the sustainable development of the Nigerian film industry is the management of the aesthetics and ethics of the Art and Craft to portray a positive image of Nigeria to the rest of the world.
The desperation for quick profits and short-cuts to fame has made both the majority of Nigerian filmmakers and their domineering marketers to disregard the international standards of filmmaking as they rush to make over 50 movies weekly and careless about the content and context of the script and the craft. Thus making Nigerian movies to be known more for the quantity than the quality and millions of viewers have complained about the horrors of juju, lawlessness and bribery and corruption of the Nigerian public officials and others shown in most of the movies. Millions of foreigners have been shown the images of gawky Nigerian police officers collecting bribes at police check-points and engaged in other sharp practices and these negative images have only worsened the bad image of the Nigerian Police and of Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the wrong. And this is the irony of the popularity of Nollywood. Because, as at present Nollywood is like a trailer overloaded with goods on the express way being driven by a desperate man without a driver's license and the others on the vehicle are struggling to correct the driver or even take over the steering from him. So, people are gasping and moping in awe and fear at the daredevil stunts of the vehicle and praying it does not crash. But is this the true picture of Nigeria?
No!
We must tell the true stories of Nigeria to the rest of the world.
The stories of our great heroes and heroines or “sheros” like Queen Amina, Emotan, Moremi, Madam Tinubu and the contemporary role models such as Dr. Dora Akunyili, Hajia Sambo and others.
Nollywood has become synonymous with the ingenuity of the smart Nigerian as Nigerians never give up in their pursuit of their goals to catch up with the leaders in whatever field of human enterprise they are interested in all over the world. But Nollywood should not ape Hollywood or Bollywood. Nollywood should be the mirror of Nigeria from the past to the present and the future. Therefore, Nollywood actors and actresses should not be competing to master who can fake the American Yankee accent or Cockney accent and should not be apes of Hollywood or Bollywood stars.
Nollywood should be proudly Nigerian, heart and soul.
Nigerian filmmakers should work in cooperation and support and pool their resources together to make Nigerian films that should be as good as any of the best films in the world. We should no longer be ridiculed for the common B-rated movies flooding the home videos rental shops and corners of the streets. We have had enough of the same rehashed stories with the same plots and badly produced too. We have had enough quantity without quality. Because, we must do our homework before we can produce excellent films that we can show at the Cannes and qualify to be nominated for the Oscars and not turned down again for poor standards.
We have a vehicle for the global village and we have already succeeded in impressing the rest of the world. So, we can now decide what our vehicle should convey and show to the whole world.
The world should see the hardworking Nigerian widow, who is the mother of six children as she wakes up at 4 am in Lagos and leaves for the far away Mile 12 market to trade and earn the means of livelihood.
Why?
She is doing it for the upbringing of her fatherless children she must send to school and pay their school fees, buy school uniform and textbooks and feed and clothe them and pay their medical bills whenever they fall ill.
The world should see the honest to God Nigerian police officers as they work day and night and they shun all temptations of bribes.
The world should see the hard working Nigerian labourers toiling daily to make ends meet.
The world should see the diligent Nigerian pupils walking miles to go to school and later to the farms, streams, and back to their.homes to do the chores.
The world should see the work-in-progress of proud Nigerians at work and at home doing their best in cooperation and support for the government in the nation building of a new Nigeria in the leadership of Africa in the comity of nations in the new millennium.
These are the true illustrations that our movies should portray and show to the rest of the world and let us be proud of Nigeria.
- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Novemeber 5, 2006.
Monday, August 16, 2021
Leader McCarthy's Statement on President Biden's Afghanistan Speech
Leader McCarthy's Statement on President Biden's Afghanistan Speech
August 16, 2021.
Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement following President Biden's address to the nation on Afghanistan:
“After six days of silence, President Biden finally addressed the worst foreign policy disaster in decades. His remarks did not answer any questions about the disastrous troop withdrawal that has failed to protect American citizens, put thousands of American troops in harm's way, and heightened the threat of terrorism around the world. But President Biden is right about one thing: the buck stops with him. He owes the American people a cohesive plan to get every American out of Afghanistan immediately and safely, target terrorists wherever they seek refuge, and secure our border.
“President Biden’s poor judgment produced the worst possible outcome in Afghanistan in only a matter of weeks. He has done long-term damage to America's credibility and our capabilities. The American people, and especially our troops who have sacrificed so much, deserve more than this catastrophic leadership and empty words.”
First Bollywood Film Adaptation of a Nigerian Novel: Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home
First Bollywood Film Adaptation of a Nigerian Novel: Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home
First Bollywood Film Adaptation of a Nigerian Novel: Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home
Only a couple of the Hausa novels have been translated into English. “Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home” was translated by Indian publishers and subsequently made into a Bollywood movie. The book is available on amazon.com, which describes it as “an Islamic soap opera complete with polygamous households, virtuous women, scheming harlots, and black magic.” Author Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, a veteran founder of the movement, was herself a child bride twice, after her first husband returned her to her family, and she only learned to read and write as an adult. https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-ap-top-news-religion-international-news-marriage-3fc0caa13a8646908219306c3e08225b
###
Sin is a Puppy That Follows You Home: Publishers: Blaft,
126 pages.
Dear reader, I was rather charmed by it. Comparing the plot to Ekta Kapoor’s soaps or Karan Johar’s family dramas misrepresents the scale of the story because, for all the theatrics indulged in it, the plot is uncompromisingly stark about how patriarchy, society and religion interfere in women’s desires and autonomy. I found far more resonances with the pragmatic tragedies of Mahasweta Devi’s stories, or the deceptively mundane female worlds of Ismat Chughtai’s work. Women tear each other down, draw dramatic lines between sluttiness and respectability, rely on brothers and extended family while suffering spousal abuse and abandonment. Romance and courtship are abbreviated to a few fast-moving dialogues because the author wants to spend time on the minutiae of how a selfish second wife neglects her kitchen duties. Yakubu’s matriarchal lead Rabi—with her culinary enterprise born of desperation, her baffled rage at her husband’s mistress, her fierce determination to promote her children—is soul sister to Parvati from Kiran Nagarkar’s Ravan and Eddie. Rabi’s daughter Saudatu—dignified, dutiful, happily desirous—resembles Sita in her deference to narrative fiat.
The main reason I would recommend reading this book is because of how much it made me feel at home. It is not heartwarming in the treacly manner of popular films, but instead, like the family histories your aunties tell you, full of compromises and small justices, and the “life goes on” approach to domestic tragedy. This is not a story of exotic Africa, nor of epochal moments in histories of colonialism and its aftermath, nor yet about the fetishized tensions of being Muslim. Instead, it is shopkeepers falling in love with women stopping to buy dress material, and mothers vacillating between the street being unsafe and being a good place to meet eligible men, and bored wives eyeing comely electricians summoned to fix the wiring. Let other books talk about purdah and polygamy; this is a book that concerns itself with soap.
- The Review of The "Sin is a Puppy That Follows You Home" of Balaraba Ramat Yakubu by Deepa Dharmadhikari.
Balaraba Ramat Yakubu is a Nigerian author who writes in Hausa. She is a leader in the genre of littattafan soyayya or "love literature", and one of the very few Hausa-language writers whose work has been translated into English. She has also worked as a screenwriter, producer, and director of Kannywood films. Her stories have focused on issues such as forced marriages and women's education.
Thursday, August 12, 2021
What You Need Most To Make A Great Movie
#movies
#filmmaking
#cinema
#filmmakers
#budget
#actors
#Bollywood
#Hollywood
#Nolllywood
#Netflix
What You Need Most To Make A Great Movie
"My mentor said what you need most to make a great movie are not big cameras, not big budget, not big cast, not big crew and not a big story. But a Big Imagination."
- Success Iyoha, from Benin City, Edo State, NIGERIA.
Case Study:
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard—who hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland in 1994 to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. The three disappear, but their equipment and footage are discovered a year later. The purportedly "recovered footage" is the film the viewer sees. Myrick and Sánchez conceived of a fictional legend of the Blair Witch in 1993. They developed a 35-page screenplay with the dialogue to be improvised. A casting call advertisement in Backstage magazine was prepared by the directors; Donahue, Williams and Leonard were cast. The film entered production in October 1997, with the principal photography taking place in Maryland for eight days. About 20 hours of footage was shot, which was edited down to 82 minutes. Shot on an original budget of $35,000–60,000, the film had a final cost of $200,000–750,000 after post-production edits.
Budget
$200,000–500,000
Box office
$248.6 million
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