NOLLYWOOD MIRROR : The Celebration of The Legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe in Nollywood and African Cinema

The name of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, MFR; will be written in gold in the history of Nollywood and African Cinema. 

I made the 2013 edition of the annual Africa Movie Academy Awards, (AMAA) the cover story of the first edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series to celebrate the unprecedented legacy of her visionary leadership in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry. 

 

The first edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series documented the phenomenal first indie film industry in Africa producing thousands of home videos telling stories of Nigerians from the past to the present that caught the attention of the rest of the world to say WOW! African magic! That made Ivorian rebels in the bush to stop fighting during their civil war when a shipment of Nollywood DVDs arrived from Lagos. That Zambian mothers said their children were now talking with accents copied from Nollywood movies. That when a President of Sierra Leone asked Genevieve Nnaji to join him on the campaign trail he attracted record crowds at rallies, because of her. 

Yes, Nollywood is our African magic that hooked the world. 

The maiden edition of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® SERIES is a celebration of the best of Nollywood with a full coverage of AMAA of 2013 with the theme, AFRICA ONE that epitomized the pan African Spirit of African Cinema. 

The following feature on the 20 years of the naming of "Nollywood" is dedicated to the legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe. It will be published in the third edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series celebrating 40 Nigerian female filmmakers in Nigeria and the Diaspora.

20 Years Since The New York Times Named #Nollywood

Norimitsu Onishi was the Chief of The New York Times’s southern Africa bureau, based in Johannesburg when he discovered the phenomenon of the first indie film industry in Africa in 2002 in the hustle and bustle of Lagos city, the heart and soul of the guerilla filmmakers of Nigeria.

How The Times Named ‘Nollywood’ in 2002

"It’s like Hollywood or Bollywood but in Nigeria — Nollywood!I told my editor."

- Norimitsu Onishi.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/insider/how-the-times-named-nollywood.html

The name of Nollywood has become the identity of the Nigerian film industry even though the making of the genre started in the 1980s which I have chronicled in my widely read and shared article, 

The Nollywood Phenomenon: From Analog to Digital - SHADOW & ACT
https://shadowandact.com/the-nollywood-phenomenon-from-analog-to-digital-2

The article shows the evolution of Nollywood over the years and how the digital cinema revolution has made a critical impact in the advancement of Nollywood since 2002.

It is now 30 years since the production of the first Nollywood blockbuster, "Living in Bondage" by Chris Obi Rapu in 1992 written and produced by Kenneth Nnebue and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor. And as we say in Lagos, many waters have passed under the Eko Bridge from 1992 to 2022.

Traditional filmmakers of the old school of filmmaking on celluloid still say Nollywood is video and not cinema. But top people in the global film industry said: Every region has unique stories to tell. And we should encourage them to tell their stories first and not be hindered by the technical requirements for professional film production. That the first thing is to supply on demand, because it was the overwhelming quantity of Nollywood home videos in the 1990s that attracted the rest of the world before the improvements in the quality. 

There have been significant improvements in the quality of the movies as Nollywood filmmakers have been adapting to current developments in filmmaking by using the same digital cinema cameras used by their counterparts in Bollywood and Hollywood following international standards in film and TV productions.

The improvement in the quality of the content has attracted the leading International acquisition and distribution companies, major studios and OTT video streaming services from America and Europe. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are now demanding for the best content in Nollywood and well produced movies have been acquired. 

There have been international productions of Nigerian movies featuring top Hollywood actors such as "The Amazing Grace" of 2006 directed by Jeta Amata, written by Jeta Amata and Nick Moran and produced by Jeta Amata and Alicia Arce with top roles by Joke Silva, Nick Moran and Scott Cleverdon; "Black November" directed by Jeta Amata in 2012, starring Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Fred Amata, Sarah Wayne Callies, Nse Ikpe Etim, OC Ukeje, Vivica Fox, Anne Heche, Persia White, Akon, Wyclef Jean and Mbong Amata; "30 Days in Atlanta" directed by Robert O' Peters and produced by AY Makun in 2014 starring Starring AY Makun, Ramsey Nouah, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Desmond Elliot, Vivica A. Fox, Lynn Whitfield, Karlie Redd, Majid Michel, Omoni Oboli, Racheal Oniga, Yemi Blaq and Juliet Ibrahim; "A Trip To Jamaica" directed by Robert O' Peters and produced by AY Makun in 2016 starring AY Makun,Funke Akindele, Nse Ikpe Etim, Dan Davies, Eric Roberts and others; "Esohe" directed by Charles Uwagbai and Robert O' Peters in 2018 starring Jimmy Jean Louis, Misty Lockheart, Desmond Elliot, Chris Attoh, Bimbo Manuel, Ufuoma McDermott, Toyin Aimakhu, Jemima Osunde and Monica Omorodion Swaida; "A Soldier's Story 2" of 2020 directed by Frankie Ogar and produced by Martin Gbados, starring  Eric Roberts, John J Vogel Jr, Alex Usifo, Akin Lewis, Segun Arinze, Linda Ejiofor, Somkele Idhalama, Michelle Dede, Daniel K. Daniel, Tope Tedela, Baaj Adebule, Samabasa Nzeribe and others; "Christmas in Miami" of 2021 directed by Robert O'Peters and produced by AY Makun starring Ayo Makun, Osita Iheme, Richard Mofe-Damijo, IK Ogbonna, Kent Morita, Raquel Lamanna, Manoj Chandra, Malcolm Burtchett, Nadya Marie, Tanya Price, Barry Piacente and Catherine Olsen and Adah Obekpa's "The American King" of 2021 starring Enyinna Nwigwe, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Andrew Howard and Nick Moran who has been playing prominent roles in the international productions of Nollywood movies since the 2000s to date. 
"The American King" directed and produced by Dr. Adah Obekpa, a Nigerian medical doctor in America. The romantic comedy featured famous African American singer, Akon with top Hollywood and Nollywood stars.

It is importan we document the new developments in Nollywood since 2002 to date for film history and film studies. That is why I working on a documentary film on "Nollywood Rising: The New Generation".

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry published since 2013.

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

Special hardcover editions are available for purchase from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

 

#Peace #Peaceanyiamosigwe #Nollywood #Nigeria #Africa #movies #cinema #TV #series #filmmaking #filmmaker #legacy #film #building 

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2023 Cannes Film Festival: Official Selection

The 76th edition of the festival will run May 16-27.

Official Selection 2023

Competition

Opening Film

• Jeanne du Barry, Maiwenn

• A Brighter Tomorrow, Nanni Moretti
• About Dry Grasses, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
• Anatomy Of A Fall, Justine Triet
• Asteroid City, Wes Anderson
• Banel Et Adama, Ramata-Toulaye Sy
• Club Zero, Jessica Hausner
• Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismaki
• Firebrand, Karim Aïnouz
• Four Daughters, Kaouther Ben Hania
• Jeunesse, Wang Bing
• Kidnapped, Marco Bellocchio
• La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher
• La Passion De Dodin Bouffant, Tran Anh Hung
• Last Summer, Catherine Breillat
• May December, Todd Haynes
• Monster, Hirokazu Kore-eda
• The Old Oak, Ken Loach
• Perfect Days, Wim Wenders
• The Zone Of Interest, Jonathan Glazer

Out Of Competition

• Cobweb, Kim Jee-Woon
• The Idol, Sam Levinson
• Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, James Mangold
• Jeanne du Barry, Maiwenn (opening film)
• Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese

Midnight Screenings

• Acide, Just Philippot
• Kennedy, Anurag Kashyap
• Omar La Fraise, Elias Belkeddar

Cannes Premiere

• Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe, Martin Provost
• Cerrar Los Ojos (Fermer Les Yeux), Victor Erice
• Kubi, Takeshi Kitano
• Le Temps D’aimer, Katell Quillévéré

Special Screenings

• Le Bruit Du Temps, Anselm Kiefer, Wim Wenders
• Man In Black, Wang Bing
• Occupied City, Steve McQueen
• Pictures Of Ghosts, Kleber Mendonça Filho

Un Certain Regard

• The Breaking Ice, Anthony Chen
• The Buriti Flower, João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora
• The Delinquents, Rodrigo Moreno
• Goodbye Julia, Mohamed Kordofani
• Hopeless, Kim Chang-hoon
• How To Have Sex, Molly Manning Walker
• If Only I Could Hibernate, Zoljargal Purevdash
• Le Regne Animal, Thomas Cailley (UCR opening film)
• Les Meutes, Kamal Lazraq
• The Mother Of All Lies, Asmae El Moudir
• The New Boy, Warwick Thornton
• Omen, Baloji Tshiani
• Rien À Perdre, Delphine Deloget
• Rosalie, Stephanie di Giusto
• The Settlers, Felipe Gálvez
• Simple Comme Sylvain, Monia Chokri
• Terrestrial Verses, Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
  

Nigerian Elections 2023: GeoPoll Post-Election Survey

Nigeria Elections: what happened?

Nigeria went into General elections on 25 February 2023. GeoPoll conducted a nationwide survey to assess public perception before the election. After the highly charged election, we followed up with yet another survey to learn about people’s voting experiences on election day, as well as their confidence in the election process and results. 

Contents
• Voting Experience
• Trust in the Electoral Process Pre- and Post-Elections
  • Election Results Acceptance, Fraud, and Violence
  • Perceptions of INEC’s Performance
• Witnessing Election Day Interference
• Perceptions of Democracy
• Interactive Data Dashboard
• Conduct Democracy and Governance Research with GeoPoll

After four days of vote tallying, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria formally declared Bola Tinubu the winner of the country’s highly contested presidential election. The declaration is not without controversy, however, as multiple opposition parties have disputed the legitimacy of the election and promised to challenge the results in court. For his part, president-elect Tinubu has appealed for reconciliation with his rivals and urged all Nigerians to unite behind his administration when he takes office in May.

GeoPoll conducted a survey prior to the election to gauge public sentiment about the state of the country, people’s trust in the electoral process, and their intention to vote. Now that the presidential election is over, GeoPoll implemented a follow-up study to learn about people’s voting experiences on election day, as well as their confidence in the election process and results.

Findings from the post-election survey are detailed in this post. To view the full results, filterable by question, state, gender, and age group, scroll down to the Interactive Data Dashboard.

Voting Experience

See complete analysis with data of the statistics on 

https://www.geopoll.com/blog/nigeria-post-elections-survey/

#Nigeria

#presidentialelection

#nigeriadecides2023 

#elections 

#voters

#INEC

#pollingunits

#ballots

#presidentialcandidates

#Tinubu

#Atiku

#Obi

#APC

#PDP

#LP

INSIDE BIAFRA: The Documentary Film

Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated Eastern Region of Nigeria. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer and Eastern Region governor C. Odumegwu Ojukwu under his presidency, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 massacres of Igbo people and other ethnic groups living in northern Nigeria. The military of Nigeria proceeded to invade Biafra shortly after its secession, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War.

From "Biafran Child" :

It was not long after the first gunshot was fired by the Federal Forces of Nigeria in 1967 that Nsukka fell and many of the students of the University of Nsukka were the first casualties as they were the vanguard of those who called for secession after the pogrom of the Ibos in the Northern regions of Nigeria.  The first gunshot marked the beginning of the internecine civil war. 

If you like, go up
If you like, go down.
Go up or down,
Jehovah knows those who are his.

The Biafran recruits and soldiers sang in Igbo, our mother tongue as they marched in rows through the village of Obolo-ugiri early in the morning.

The young recruits were clean-shaven and wearing white vests, white short knickers, and white snickers, whilst the soldiers wore their green Biafran Army camouflage uniform; all adorned with the badges of the rising sun in bright yellow colour.  There were badges on the face-caps and jackets.

The recruits carried wooden guns whilst the soldiers carried the real guns, which were rifles.

Instead of the Hausas to rule us
Let the world scatter to pieces.

Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì, Kingdom of the Rising Sun

Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì

Kingdom of the Rising Sun

How can you traverse the universe,

When you have chosen not to see beyond your nose? 

They called her the ageless woman of the Igbo Ukwu. The Mother of all the Dibias of Afa divination. 

I came to the peak of the hills of Udi where I found her sitting under an Ugiri tree.

She was sitting on green palm fronds encircled by gourds. I came before her naked and bowed.

"Gini bu afa ghi?" 

She asked  in the language of our kingdom meaning, "What is your name!"

"Onyemachi."

I replied. 

She gazed at me. She gazed into my eyes. Her eyeballs were like golden almonds. She gazed at the windows of my soul. Then she nodded her hairless oval head.

"Hmm. Indeed Onyemachi. Of course, who knows God?"

She shook her head.

"Nobody knows God. They call, cry and shout His name every day and night and yet they don't know Him "

"Great Mother, I want to know Him. I have come to know Him," I said.

She gazed at me again.

With the index finger of her thin right hand she scribbled on the ground what I could not read and did not understand.

"You want to know Him whom they don't know?"

"Yes, Great Mother."

She brought out the bowl of the shell of a tortoise with a short stick of Ofo wood. Then she brought out the four strings of AFA one by one. 

"Open your right palm," she said.

I opened my right palm.

She held it and gazed at it.  She opened her right palm and gazed at it and gazed at mine again.

"The truth is only for the children of the covenant," she said.

"Not all the children of Yebu are called. Not all the ones who are called are chosen."

She picked up the first string of the AFA with her right hand and cast it on the ground.

Our forefathers and diviners said Yebu came with the Afa when he descended from the midst of the clouds in the sky with flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.

Yebu was one of the Sons of God who came down to the Earth. 

Genesis 6:

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose '"

© Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima. All rights reserved. No copying, duplication, publication and reproduction of the content without the authorization and permission of the author and owner of the copyright.

#God

#Creation

#Genesis

#fathers

#children

#mother

#sons

#daughters

#almond

#tree

#sun

#angels

#thunder

#lightning

#claps

#heaven

#Igbos

#AFA

#Nrikingdon

#IgboUkwu

#Nri

#Ofo

#Yebu

President Buhari Celebrates 2023 Easter with Uplifting Message To Nigerians

 

PRESIDENT BUHARI’S 2023 EASTER MESSAGE TO NIGERIANS

I join Christians in Nigeria and around the world to celebrate Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, signposting his victory over death.

At the heart of Easter, is the triumph of light over darkness.

It is a season that reminds us that the Almighty can turn an unpleasant situation round for good.

Recognising that Easter is about renewed hope and a glorious future, I urge all Nigerians to continue to be confident and believe strongly in our country for better seasons ahead.

As a nation, we have gone through an election that has produced the next set of leaders at the federal and State levels.

I commend Nigerians for believing in the process. While I congratulate those that have been elected, I acknowledge that it is the right of those who feel dissatisfied with the outcome to seek redress. I expect them to wait patiently and allow our legal system run its course.

It has been a rare privilege for me to serve as your President since you gave me the first mandate in 2015 and renewed it in 2019.

Day after day, I have been guided by the vows I took to keep Nigeria united, prosperous and secure.

Our successes on security, economy, infrastructure, new oil frontier basins, landmark legal reforms as well as food sufficiency, among others, were possible because of the support of Nigerians.

As we celebrate this season with our families, neighbors and communities, let us do so in love, compassion, kindness, resilience and forgiveness.

Happy Easter!

- Muhammadu Buhari,
April 7, 2023

SEND SUPPORT TO THE NEEDY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER

Send Money To UCHE FRANKLIN EKE

FCMB 5363185013

To send foodstuffs, call +234 7066379246.

Population of Igbos and Their Locations in the World

Population of Igbos:

Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò. 50,366,800 (2021 est.)
Regions with significant populations
Ñigeria 45,880,000.

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. Gabon

15. Haiti

16. Cuba
17. Japan
18. Finland
19. Sweden
20. South Korea

Facts You Don't Know About the True Origins of the Igbos in Nigeria

IGBO AMAKA!
The Igbos of Eastern NIGERIA have the oldest monarchy in Africa dating back to the Bronze Age when the Igbo Ukwu Kingdom flourished and famous for the awesome bronze artworks of classic naturalistic sculptures of the lost wax casting of the same period of time with the Indus Valley Civilization of South Asia.

The progenitor of the Igbos was among the "Sons of God" who fell in love with the fair daughters of men before the days of Noah.

The ancient Nsibidi writings which were discovered in 1904. Historian Robert Farris Thompson erroneously misinterpreted the meaning of Nsibidi as "cruel blood thirsty". But Nsibidi actually means "In the Beginning" or "The Beginning".
Igbos are "UmuChineke" which means Children of God. 
Do you know that the word, CHI which is the Igbo root for the name of Almighty God, Chineke and Destiny is a universal name for destiny as the CHI in Chinese and Japanese which means the Vital Life Force of the universe.

Symbolism Of The CHI

In Plato's Timaeus, it is explained that the two bands that form the soul of the world cross each other like the letter Χ. Plato's analogy, along with several other examples of chi as a symbol occur in Thomas Browne's discourse The Garden of Cyrus (1658).
Chi or X is often used to abbreviate the name Christ, as in the holiday Christmas(Xmas). When fused within a single typespace with the Greek letter Rho, it is called the labarum and used to represent the person of Jesus Christ.

- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael CHIma,
"Orikinla OsinaCHI
Igbo-Centric and Igbo+Centricity
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSHFpGfjKRt/?utm_medium=share_sheet

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Peter Obi and the Rulers of Nigeria

Dear Peter Obi,

When you joined the former national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP), you were politically initiated into the cult of political Mafia of the rulers of Nigeria since 1970. They wanted you to become the Vice President to President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,GCON, another Dr. Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme; GCON (21 October 1932 – 19 November 2017) the Vice President of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983 during the Second Nigerian Republic serving under President Shehu Shagari as a member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). But when you left the PDP to join the Labour Party (LP) , you altered their political master plan.

They will never allow an Igbo man to be President of Nigeria.

President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn in as the new democratically elected President of Nigeria.

Nigeria is ruled by political corruption. So, the presidential election was just political camouflage. 

The political ignorance and stupidity of majority of Igbos is the fact that they don't realize that the Hausas, Yorubas and allied tribes of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are not ready to let anyone of those who wanted to separate from the sovereignty become the President of Nigeria.

Majority of the suppprters of Peter Obi are Igbos who are also supporting the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) fighting for the restoration of Biafra.

The political cabal of northern Nigeria will not hand over the reins of power to an Igbo political leader to become the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces.  That can be dangerous for the national security of the federation, because majority of the Igbos in the military can now be fully equipped to take over the country. They will now achieve their dream of Biafra.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Why Netflix is the First Choice of Filmmakers in Nigeria

Why Netflix is the First Choice of Filmmakers in Nigeria

At a meeting with one of the biggest film companies in Africa in February, they told me that Netflix is the first choice of Nigerian Filmmakers, because Netflix pays more for their content than Amazon Prime Video and other major competitors in the  streaming industry.

To be on Netflix is the dream of every Nigerian filmmaker for more money, more prestige and more privilege in the global film industry.

I was told that the filmmakers are willing to wait for even a year to be acquired by Netflix instead of being acquired by other streaming platforms within six months.

Netflix has over 230 million subscribers worldwide, including 74.3 million in the United States and Canada; 76.7 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 41.7 million in Latin America and 38 million in the Asia-Pacific region.

Filmmakers in Nigeria have improved the quality of their film and TV productions to meet the international criteria for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other leading foreign streaming services.

Nigeria produces over 1, 000 movies annually, but only few of them are acquired by Netflix. 

The Nigerian film industry popularly known as Nollywood has been a sociocultural and economic phenomenon in filmmaking in Africa and according to UNESCO, the  "Nollywood Model' could help unlock 20 million African film jobs.