Expo 2020 Dubai: Kuwaiti Singer Abdulla Al Ruwaished and Egyptian Singer Mohamed Hamaki to Perform on the Jubilee Stage

Looking for something to do in the evening? Let the voices of these incredible singers enchant you.

Abdallah Al Rowaished
24 November 2021 | 20:00 Jubilee Stage

Mohamed Hamaki
26 November 2021 | 22:00 Jubilee Stage

Expo 2020 Dubai: 

Kuwaiti singer Abdulla Al Ruwaished and Egyptian singer, composer and poet Mohamed Hamaki. Al Ruwaished will perform popular ballads from his 40-year career on the Jubilee Stage on November 24, with festival favourite Hamaki presenting his pulsating rhythms and polished lyrics two days later on November 26.

Expo started on October 1 and concludes on March 31, 2022

Prince Emeka Ani in "Chukwuabiama Na Ezedibia": God and the King of Wizards

One of three #Nollywood movies acquired through Vuulr for global streaming .

"Chukwuabiama Na Ezedibia" (God and the King of Wizards)

Director: Evans Orji

Major Cast: Prince Emeka Ani, Agbaogidi Clement Cornel, Camilla Mberikwe

Population of Igbos:

Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò. 50,366,800 (2021 est.)

Regions with significant populations

Ñigeria 45,880,000 

United States

227,000

Igbo Americans, or Americans of Igbo ancestry, (Igbo: Ṇ́dị́ Ígbò Amerika)

Since the turn of the 21st century genealogy tracing by means of DNA testing is in part revealing the Igbo ancestry of African Americans, some notable celebrities including Blair Underwood and Quincy Jones.

1. USA (New York; Houston/Dallas, Texas; California; Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois)

2. UK (London, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham)

3. South Africa

4. Canada

5. Germany

6. Netherlands

7. Malaysia

8. China

9. Thailand

10. Spain

11. Ghana

12. Benin

13. Equatorial Guinea

14. Japan

15. Finland

16. Sweden

17. South Korea

"ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour" Wins the Audience Choice Award at 2021 Arlington International Film Festival

Arlington International Film Festival | Nov 4-14, 2021 | Streaming

https://aiffest.org/
        
 

A WRAP-UP of AIFF 2021

The Power of Coming Together
AUDIENCE CHOICE FILM AWARD

The act of creating an AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD is by nature creating a network of people from around the globe and giving them a voice. We have awards chosen by our jury but AIFF wanted to hear the audience’s voice.

Regardless of distance, you have had the opportunity of viewing
this year’s film program virtually
and casting YOUR vote for your favorite FILM

The Audience Choice Award that YOU voted for is…
ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour
Congratulations to filmmaker Daizy Gedeon!

2021 FILM AWARDS

• Best of Festival: I’M AN ELECTRIC LAMPSHADE, John Clayton Doyle, U.S.A.

• Best Narrative Feature: JACK LONDON’S MARTIN EDEN, Jay Craven, U.S.A. 

• Best Documentary Feature: LOS HERMANOS: The Brothers, Marcia Jarmel & Ken Schneider, U.S.A.

• Best Narrative Short: THE LAST JAM JAR, Arpan Bahl, India 

• Best Documentary Short: HUNGER WARD, Skye Fitzgerald, U.S.A./Yemen

• Best Animation Short: TIMES OF PLENTY, Claudio Costa, Italy

• Best Experimental Short: WOMAN, Lillian Carter, U.S.A.

High School Student Filmmakers

• Best of Festival: THE WALTZ OF TIME, Mario Martínez Sáenz, Spain

• Best Narrative: BRO, CRITICS, Nigeria

• Best Documentary: EVERY BODY’S BUSINESS, Amilieyon Pridgen, Jessica Torres, NY/U.S.A.

• Best Historical Documentary: TAKING A SEAT FOR JUSTICE: The 504 Sit-in, Thomas Huang, Allen Tang, Andrew Wang, Andrew Yu, Rohin Garg, MD/U.S.A.

• Best Animation: CLOUDY DREAM, Rayhaneh Einollahi and Bahareh Einollahi, Iran

• Best Experimental: ELYSIUM, Ariana Jones, Georgia/U.S.A. 

• Best Musical: SINCE THEN, BRJDC Residents, VA/U.S.A.

• Best Cinematography: KEEP YOUR HEAD UP, SWEET PEA, Sophie Meissner, U.S.A./Germany

• Best Editing: I AM KEREN, Keren Chen, Canada 

• Best Lighting: FROM WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND, Jodhi Ramsden-Mavric, Australia

• Best Audio: COMA, Ruby Kim, CA/U.S.A.

• Honorable Mention: BEYOND THE MODEL, Jessica Lin, CA/U.S.A.

The MultiChoice Talent Factory and other Film Schools in Nigeria

The MultiChoice Talent Factory and other Film Schools in Nigeria

I have waited long enough to assess the progress of the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) before writing about it 

I was told that the primary purpose of the establishment is to train screenwriters and filmmakers that will produce regular content for the M-Net Channels on DStv. But it has done more than that, because the alumni are producing content for the global entertainment industry.

The MTF covers WEST AFRICA: Ghana & Nigeria; EAST AFRICA: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania and SOUTHERN AFRICA: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia & Zimbabwe.

The MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy has achieved within three years of its establishment since 2018 what other older film schools in Nigeria have failed to achieve for the advancement of the Nigerian film industry. In fact, MTF has exposed the shortcomings of the film schools that have been existing since 2010 to date, but they are still having unaccredited courses and poorly trained graduates who have been rushed through ad-hoc courses in overcrowded classes without in-depth hands-on training on the most important components of filmmaking and film studies.

In filmmaking, if you are good, your works will show that you are good from the script to the screen. In filmmaking, seeing is believing. You show more and talk less. A good film school is not judged by attractive curriculums or fine buildings, but by the quality of the faculty and the quality of the film and TV productions of the alumni in the film industry.

The alumni of MTF have won international awards and scholarships; including the Spotlight award at the 15th edition of the Mobile Film Festival held in Paris, France in 2019 and awards of scholarships from the New York Film Academy (NYFA)  among other notable achievements.

The other film schools in Nigeria should use the template of the MTF for the improvement of their curriculums in accordance with the international standards of the best film schools in the world and they should join the International Association of Film and Television Schools (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision (CILECT)

https://www.cilect.org/

It is highly recommended to read the interview of MultiChoice Group CEO,  Yolisa Phahle .

TBI Spotlight On Africa: MultiChoice Group CEO Yolisa Phahle – TBI Vision
https://tbivision.com/2021/10/26/tbi-spotlight-on-africa-multichoice-group-ceo-yolisa-phahle/

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael China,

The Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series.

Lagos in Motion! It's A Wrap?

#Lagos

#megaqcity
#documentary
#africa
#Amazon
#film #photography

It's A Wrap?
The moment I told my 📷 cameraman that he should stop, but the leading ladies still wanted to have more shots taken during the first phase of the principal photography of my documentary film, "Lagos in Motion" at the Elegushi beach in Lekki in 2016.
This screenshot and others are included in the photo book, 
LAGOS in MOTION: A Photo Album of Africa's Largest Megacity (Volume 1): Ekenyerengozi, Michael Chima: 9781536934922: Amazon.com: Books
https://www.amazon.com/LAGOS-MOTION-Africas-Largest-Megacity/dp/1536934925

I am working on a revision of the photo book for the second edition with more screenshots from the second phase of the principal photography using Drylab Set Reports and Dolby Atmos. And I want to have some footage in Dolby Vision. The most significant advantage of Dolby Vision HDR over HDR10 is the addition of dynamic metadata to the core HDR image data. This metadata carries scene-by-scene instructions that a Dolby Vision-capable display can use to make sure it portrays the content as accurately as possible.  

All the documentaries on Lagos produced by the @CNN , @BBC and other foreign film and TV producers have not been well researched. The most important parts of Lagos have been forgotten or left out. A documentary film on Lagos without Isale Eko is like a documentary on #London without the Westminster!

Producing a documentary film on any object or subject without comprehensive research on it is shallow and unacceptable.
I spent four years on the location of my proposed first feature film, "Naked Beauty" in the Agaja Village on Bonny Island in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. I studied both the demography, topography and also the physiognomy of the villagers before writing the screenplay with Dr. Chika Christian Onu, the multiple award winning director of "Living in Bondage" part two, "Glamour Girls" and over 80 other movies that are now classics of #Nollywood.

The Scramble for Nollywood and The Status of Lagos State

The Scramble for Nollywood and The Status of Lagos State

Everyone wants to have a bite of a hot pizza. 

I hope the current scramble for Nollywood by the major streaming video services from America is not like the scramble for Africa by European powers  (between 1881 and 1914).

Entertainment is Power 

I wonder if the Nigerian government knows the dynamics of the overwhelming power of our entertainment industry beyond the glitz and razzmatazz and surplus  economic returns.

The internet has become the most powerful vehicle of the entertainment industry since the inventions of the cinema and television.

The sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical powers of entertainment can define and determine the future of a nation and the civilization of the people.

Entertainment generates more revenues for America than oil. 

That is why California is the richest state in the United States.

The economy of California, with a gross state product of $3.2 trillion as of 2019, is the largest sub-national economy in the world.

California is the home of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Mountain View, the headquarters of the entertainment industry and of the Big Techs, including Apple, Alphabet and Meta. And is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.

Without the internet, these Big Techs will not be Big and without entertainment, they will not become the biggest tech giants in the world.

Lagos is the powerhouse of the economy of Nigeria and the capital of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, the home of Nollywood and the home of Yabacon, the Silicon Valley of Nigeria where there are the first tech unicorns in Africa. And Lagos can become to Nigeria what California is to America. 

As it has been noted that if California were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world, likewise Lagos would be the fifth-largest economy in Africa if it were a country.

The realization of the awesome developments of tech startups connected to the entertainment industry in Lagos is what has attracted the biggest American streaming video services to Nollywood. 

Disney already has a base in Nigeria with the long term partnership with Kugali Media.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/11/africa/disney-africa-kugali-iwaju-partnership-spc-intl/index.html

I am excited about the Scramble for Nollywood and the competition for our original content. 

Only the best is good enough for us. 

As we say in my mother tongue of Igbo language, NKIRUKA, which means that the future is greater. 

This is the Big Picture of Nollywood I saw coming years ago. The future is here.

- 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

"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.

Chioma Ude To Speak @ Dubai Expo 2020: Canon Brings Women Trailblazers From The Middle-East and African Film Industry

Cinema – A Social Catalyst: 

Dubai Expo 2020: Canon Brings Chioma Ude and other women trailblazers from the Middle-East and African film Industry to speak on the dynamics of the power of the cinema for sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical reformation and transformation.

PRESS RELEASE

Advancing gender equality & celebrating women empowerment at Dubai Expo 2020: Canon to bring together women trailblazers from the Middle-East and African film industry in a thought-provoking panel discussion

The panel discussion is envisioned to celebrate the creative efforts of women filmmakers who make an immeasurable contribution to the enrichment of the industry and to discuss how the industry can re-invent itself to reduce gender disparity

Access Multimedia Content

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, November 11, 2021/ -- In alignment with the company’s relentless commitment to promote gender equality and women empowerment, Canon  (Canon-CNA.com) will bring together an esteemed panel of women entrepreneurs from the film industry in Middle-East and Africa at Women’s Pavilion, Dubai Expo 2020; Canon is the Official Printing and Imaging Provider of Expo 2020 Dubai taking place from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022; To register for the event, please click here -> https://bit.ly/3ohOq4y Canon Middle East (CME) and Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) announced today of their upcoming panel discussion on ‘Women in Filmmaking: In the spotlight and studying landscape of Cinema and Media today in Middle-East and Africa’ to be held at Women’s Pavilion, Dubai Expo 2020. As part of the company’s endeavor to celebrate women change-makers in the creative industries, a noteworthy panel consisting of women filmmakers from the Middle-East and Africa will be brought together on 18th November 2021 at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The panel discussion is envisioned to celebrate the creative efforts of women filmmakers who make an immeasurable contribution to the enrichment of the industry and to discuss how the industry can re-invent itself to reduce gender disparity. The Expo 2020 Dubai Women’s Pavilion, is dedicated to celebrate the efforts of women in creative industries in order to reaffirm Expo’s commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Women’s pavilion is a platform that celebrates the significant parts that women, known and unknown, have played throughout history and continue to play in the present day, based on the principle that when women thrive, humanity thrives.

Read the report on TALK OF THE TOWN By Orikinla

http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2021/11/cinema-social-catalyst-dubai-expo-2020.html

Highlights of the Opening Day of 10th Anniversary of AFRIFF in Lagos

The opening day of the 10th Anniversary edition of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) held on Sunday, November 7, 2021 attracted hundreds of people, including the top A-List stars of Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry in the Filmhouse Cinemas at the Landmark Retail Boulevard on Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Chioma Ude, the Founder and Executive Director of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) with Mr. Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank, the leading major sponsor of AFRIFF.

Chioma Ude with Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo, Chief Marketing Officer, Prime Video and Amazon Studios with James Farrell, the International Head of Local Originals, Amazon Studios.

Before the Nigerian premiere of the opening film, Amazon Studios' sci-fi action thriller, "Encounter" directed by Michael Pearce, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank Plc, the leading major sponsor of AFRIFF lauded the visionary leadership of Chioma Ude, the Founder and Executive Director of one of the best film festivals in Africa and said Access Bank will continue to support AFRIFF. Claire A. Pierangelo, the US Consul General to Nigeria also commended the remarkable success of AFRIFF and that the US Consulate is happy to partner with AFRIFF. Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo, Chief Marketing Officer, Prime Video and Amazon Studios with James Farrell, the International Head of Local Originals, Amazon Studios were the keynote speakers and they announced the big plans of Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Studios to increase the international appreciation of Nollywood by hiring M-Net West Africa's former Regional Director, Mrs. Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu as the Principal Head of Content Acquisition for Prime Video in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kemi"Lala" Akindoju was the MC of the opening day event.

Fast rising filmmaker and action hero, JLeo Uche with famous actor, Wale Ojo.

 JLeo Uche with Mr. Victor Okhai, President of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN).

Angela M. Gordon, American filmmaker and writer with Wale Ojo and JLeo Uche.

The celebrated filmmakers, actors and stakeholders in the Nigerian film industry who were at the event, included Mr. Victor Okhai, the President of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN),  Mrs. Joke Silva-Jacobs, Kunle Afolayan, Charles Novia, Francis Onwochei, Ugezu J. Ugezu, Teco Benson, Obi Emelonye, Jay Franklin, Wale Ojo, Wole Ojo, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Osas Ighodaro and JLeo Uche. They had interviews on the red carpet with both local and International guests, participants and visitors.  There were cocktails and foods for everyone at the event. 

In association with The Smithsonian, there was a Soirée Opening Night Fashion Party  at the Shiro Lagos Asian Restaurant and Bar opposite the Filmhouse Cinemas. Famous trendsetter and multiple award winning TV host, Denrele Edun was the cynosure of the Soirée.

Sound and Screenwriting in Nollywood and Kannywood

Sound and Screenwriting in 

Nollywood and Kannywood

Majority of screenwriters in #Nollywood and #Kannywood need to learn how to include sound cues during screenwriting and not during post production.

If we ask even those who claim to know a simple question about sound in screenwriting, they may not know, because they have not shown that they know in several of their film and TV productions.

Seeing is believing.

Many people listen, but only few learn in Nigeria. That's why we hear and see repetitions of the same mistakes in film and TV productions in Africa's largest film industry.

They still don't know how to use sound for characterisation in screenplays before the principal photography.

They just copy and paste soundtracks during post production without creating and composing any original score.  

Sound in a movie includes the music, leitmotifs, dialogues, sound effects, ambient noise, and/or background noise and soundtracks. 

There is what I call the "Ambience of Romance" in filmmaking and it can only be achieved with sound.

And what is the ambience of romance in screenwriting and in the atmosphere of a scene?

I am still waiting for the cinematic experience of Dolby Vision in Nollywood and Kannywood.

To me, any Nigerian filmmaker whose movies have not qualified for the Official Selections of the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival is not qualified to teach any  Masterclass. 

How can you teach a Masterclass without the proof of being a master of the subject?

How can someone who is still having issues with the nuances of sound in storytelling teach a Masterclass on directing or screenwriting? 

Do you know that majority of the filmmakers in Nollywood and Kannywood are clueless about spherical and anamorphic lenses? And they are teaching Filmmaking in some so called film and TV academies in Lagos, Asaba, Calabar and Kannywood without any certification or accreditation.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series

distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

Experience Last Night in Soho in Dolby

In acclaimed director Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller, Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.

 https://www.dolby.com/experience/cinema