From audio-visual professionals, more attention for archiving and preservation

Calls for more attention by government of all levels for audiovisual archiving and preservation, including adequate funding, has been canvassed by audiovisual professionals in Nigeria. Rising from a one-day National Conference on Audiovisual Archiving in Nigeria, held recently at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja, participants discussed extensively issues militating against the establishment, funding and promotion of Audiovisual Archiving in Nigeria and resolved that, indeed all hands should be on deck, along with appropriate legislations and funding, for the operations of Audiovisual Archiving in Nigeria to thrive, in line with global practices. The Conference, organized by the National Film Video and Sound Archive, (NFVSA), established by the Nigerian Film Corporation, was intended to among others, create awareness on the need to preserve Nigeria’s audiovisual heritage, build the capacity of audiovisual archivists, conservationists and curators. Formation of Professional Associations for Archiving and Preservation formed part of the objectives of the one-day conference with the theme: ‘’ Audiovisual Archiving in Nigeria – the Challenges and Prospects’’. A Communiqué capturing the issues germane to Audiovisual Archiving and Preservation was issued at the end of the Conference. The professionals resolved among other resolutions that: government should as a matter of urgency give speedy approval to the National Policy on Preservation and Conservation; that government should make the National Film Video and Sound Archive a legal depository for all audio-visual materials produced in Nigeria, about Nigeria and on Nigeria; that the National Film Video and Sound Archive should be a National Center for the preservation of all audio-visual materials in Nigeria; that Audio Visual Archives and Libraries in Nigeria should have written Operational manual (Policy) to guide its programmes and activities and that all establishments that employ Audio-Visual Archivists in Nigeria should as a matter of urgency ensure that the archivists receive specialized training both within and outside Nigeria to equip them with the required knowledge and skills in film preservation, restoration, documentation and use. Also the professionals urged government to improve funding of Audio Visual Archiving in Nigeria and that Government and the private sector should invest in audio-visual infrastructure in Nigeria. Similarly they called on government at all levels to establish Audio Visual Archives to ensure effective national coverage. The Audio Visual professionals canvassed the need for audio visual Archivists in Nigeria to form a National Network of Audio-Visual Archivists to enhance interrelationships and resource sharing. They also stressed the need for a national Survey of Audio Visual holdings to be carried out by the Audio Visual Archivists to establish the materials available nationwide and their state.  The survey they say, should cover not only public film archives but also privately owned film archives. Similarly they urged Audio Visual Archivists to at regular intervals organize enlightenment and advocacy programmes aimed at sensitizing policy makers and the general public on the importance of Audio-Visual Archiving. The communiqué, according to the Head, National Film Video and Sound Archive (NFVSA) Mrs. Chinwe Oliwe, sums up the renewed commitment of audiovisual professionals in Nigeria to address all issues inhibiting the effective policy takeoff of audiovisual archiving, assuring that Nigeria’s audiovisual heritage  (music, film, etc) will not be lost.

MOVIETAINMENT magazine set to stage Achievement award

As part of its objectives of adding value to the industry, the publishers of Movietainment are set to stage the maiden edition of the Movietainment Achievement & Corporate Awards dubbed MACA 2012. MACA will hold on Saturday August 11, 2012 at the Lagos Airport Hotels, Ikeja. The award according to the organisers will cover three major areas--the corporate industry that has added one or two values to the growth of the industry,, individuals as well as the industry gurus. MACA according to the organizers is not just about presentation of awards, but an avenue to interact, and network. And in the light of the interactive session of the award, two key personalities Senator Olorunninmbe Mamora and Barrister Tunji Bamisigbin to do justice to some topics which deal with the challenges facing the industry. Both Mamora and Bamishigbin will examine “The Role of Entertainment in Political Development of Nigeria” and “Piracy and the Film Industry; The Way Forward.” The Movietainment Magazine Ventures (tmm) was registered on 15th December 2005. The first edition was launched 1st July 2006, and it started full operations in March 2007 and since then, it has become an established brand amongst other specialized magazine. The Magazine has also established itself as a brand and has carved a niche for itself in the Nigerian has Entertainment Industry with its 60% focus on the movie sector. 
The magazine has established a strong bond and relationship with some Governmental Agencies both in the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Ministry of Information and Communication. Such agencies includes Centre for Blacks & African Arts & Civilization (CBAAC), Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), National Theatre/National Troupe of Nigeria (NT/NTN) and the guilds and associations in the entertainment sector which includes Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTP), National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), and

Winners for Durban Film Festival announced

The 33rd edition of the Durban International Film Festival, with principal funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, has announced its award-winners, for the 33^rd edition, which closed on Saturday July 28 in Durban, South Africa. Winner of the Best Feature Film award, Love (Amour) was applauded by the International Jury as “unmissable”, and the film’s director Michael Haneke, as a “contemporary master with an astute understanding of his cinematic world”. The Best Feature Film award carries a cash prize of R50 000.The international Jury which comprised Zimbabwean filmmaker and novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga, hot South African director Oliver Hermanus, producer and television presenter Kgomotso Matsunyane, and Canadian producer, director Peter Wintonick also awarded the Best First Feature Film prize ( R20 000) to Australian Julia Leigh for Sleeping Beauty (Australia). Receiving a cash prize of R30 000, the Best South African Feature Film was awarded to Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley. Of the large number of South African films screened this year, the jury’s unanimous voice lauded this film as one with “strong writing and direction, and beautiful animation infused with the spirit of the continent…” and one that “tells an African story from an African perspective while having clear global appeal”. The Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award, with a prize of € 2,500, went to Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright’s film Call Me Kuchu which focuses on attacks on gay people in Uganda. The other awards include

Best Director: Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (USA); Best Actress: Deanie Ip in A Simple Life (Tao Jie) (Hong Kong SAR China)

Best Actor: Joseph Wairimu in Nairobi Half Life (Kenya, Germany); Best Cinematography: Gökhan Tiryaki for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey); Best Screenplay: Ercan Kesal, Ercan Ceylan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey); Special Jury Mention Feature Film: Goodbye (Be Omid E Didar) (Iran), directed by Mohammad Rasoulof; Best Documentary: 5 Broken Cameras (Palestinian Territories, France, Israel, The Netherlands), directed by Guy Davidi; Best South African Documentary: The African Cypher (South Africa), directed by Bryan Little; Documentary Special Jury Mention: Calvet (Costa Rica, France, Nicaragua, United Kingdom, United States), directed by Dominic Allan and Best Short Film: The Bird Spider (La Migala) (Spain), directed by Jaime Dezcallar The 33rd Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre For Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) with support by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (principal funder), National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, HIVOS, City of Durban, German Embassy in South Africa, Goethe Institut of South Africa, French Season in South Africa, and a range of other valued partners. 

Fintel Brings Famous Celebrity Salon To Nigeria

Fintel Universal Services Limited of Nigeria in partnership with (JK-INC, Ireland) having secured the Franchise of the famous Celebrity reality TV show titled, Celebrity Salon from Straywave is bringing the show to Nigeria and the whole of Africa in 2012. The Celebrity Salon is a 12 part reality TV series that will challenge 6-8 top Nigerian celebrities cut across various industries (Nollywood, music, comedy, fashion and modeling, sports and broadcasting) to enter a "beauty boot camp" to learn many of the skills needed to become a top beauty therapist. The show will see celebrities on the road touring the best salons across the country where they will be mentored and trained in a new skill in every episode as they compete to impress their mentor and beauty guru and a series of expert judges.  Skills varying from facial treatment, nail and hair treatment, skin, massage techniques and photo shoot will be the main focus. The show comes with a top foreign celebrity presenter, foreign and local directors, producers and crew to support the Nigerian cast and crew to produce a world class Celebrity Salon Nigeria. The Celebrity Salon Nigeria will be aired in major TV stations across the country, cable TV channels and previewed in the foreign media for the global audience. The celebrities would be paid appearance fees aside from prizes to be won based on their performances in various tasks given by the brands that would be represented. The celebrities will travel, live and learn together over an intensive 2-4 week period. The Celebrity Salon Nigeria for this first season would be pre recorded and not a live show and it is billed to be aired between the third and last quarter of 2012. The choice of celebrities will be based on the strength of the fan base of the celebrities in comparison to their contemporaries, the type of corporate brand they are able to attract and secure for the show, their availability for the total duration of the production among other requirements. It is expected that at the end of the show, the celebrities would have acquired unique beauty skills, increased their fan base, go away with a lot of gifts and remuneration, command global respect and recognition, secured brand deals with major multinationals, etc. FUSL is a company duly incorporated in Nigeria and carries on business as movie producers, distributors and marketers of home video and movies and also helps independent producers secure distribution rights across Africa

It’s ‘Invitation to Thunder’ for Superstory’s series

Ace Nigerian production house, Wale Adenuga Productions presents a Superstory classic titled: Invitation To Thunder. ‘Invitation to thunder’ is the popular Superstory title that portrayed the life of a wealthy businesswoman Susan, whose spirit was crushed when she suspected that her younger lover Henry was having an affair with one of the top attendants in her supermarket. She devised a plan to get rid of Sonia but something went horribly wrong. Written by Lamson Yesuf, Invitation to thunder reflects the extremities of jealousy, envy and vengeance. According to Wale Adenuga Jnr, “Invitation to thunder is being transmitted due to popular demand by fans. Superstory remains a mirror to reflect and correct the ills of the society” Invitation to Thunder, features stars such as Chinyere Winifred, Jibola Oredola, Perez Egbi and others. Wale Adenuga Productions Ltd has several award-wining programmes including Papa Ajasco and Company,  Thislife and Nnena & Friends.

Premiered: Last Flight to Abuja

All roads led to Genesis deluxe Cinema at the Palms in Lekki on Friday for the all glam premiere of Obi Emelonye’s latest feature Last Flight to Abuja. The movie got many people talking, tweeting and texting prior to this premiere that attracted a large crowd of mostly top industry players and captains of industry.  Based on what the promoters said was a true life story, the richly cast movie features Amnesty International Ambassador, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Jim Iyke, Hakeem Kae Kazeem, Jide Kosoko, Celine Loader, Uru Eke, Anthony Monjaro, Uche Odoputa, Charles Granville, Franca Brown and others. The project is majorly sponsored by one of the nation’s leading banks, Diamond Bank. Known for supporting business owners, industrialists, SMEs, the bank took the notch higher by throwing its weight behind highly acclaimed movie, Last Flight to Abuja. The bank has over the years established credibility as one bank which delights in making dreamer’s dream come true and lovers of art. One of the stars of the movie, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde spoke on the movie shortly after the premiere:  ‘’I think it’s a life changing movie, I tell the people around me that this movie is going to do nothing but encourage people to take risks, I think it was bold of the filmmaker but it’s also a very risky thing to do, I think we need to get to that point in Nollywood, where we leave our comfort zone and veer into the bigger things, bigger projects and talk about the things that affect our lives.  9/11 has had several movies done about the incident, we shouldn’t have taboo subjects, the more we can talk about these things in a respectable manner, the better for us, which is the only time we can move ahead and the jinx can be broken’’. When asked if the movie was her most challenging so far, the amiable actress opined ‘’ truthfully no, but it’s one of the most challenging movies, it was challenging because of the topic but I would put it on the same level with a movie called, The Prostitute because as at that time, the movie was like a taboo subject and the way it was being handled was very conscious, another movie of such underlining factor was Mortal Inheritance’’. The PR Agency handling the publicity, Bigsam Media said ‘’ those that have seen the movie have predicted that it would to sell more than Mirror Boy and we can say with all sense of modesty that it will double the box office figure. Obi did a good job! ’’. Other sponsors of the movie are; Afromedia, Zinox, TD technology distribution, Mact Securities, Soundcity, Nigezie, Ozone Cinemas, Silverbird Cinemas, Nigeria Info FM, Cool FM, Blue Pictures (distributor of the movie), Africa Magic, Wazobia FM and Bigsam Media.

Hitchcooks’s Vertigo is BFI’S greatest film of all times

The BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine today announced that the winner of its hugely anticipated and world-renowned Greatest Films of All Time poll is Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, ending the 50-year reign of Orson Welles’ mighty Citizen Kane, winner of the once-a-decade poll since 1962 and now in second place. 846 film experts participated in the poll, placing Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story 3^rd and Jean Renoir’s La Règle du jeu 4^th. Two new films to make the Top Ten are both silent – Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera at no.8, the first documentary to make the Top Ten since 1952, and Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc in 9^th place. The most recent film in the Top Ten is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in 6^th place. The poll is Sight & Sound’s seventh and most ambitious to date; the full results are published in the September issue, on sale from August 4^th which also celebrates the magazine’s 80^th birthday and a new re-launch, with a new look and new digital edition and archive. Visit www.bfi.org.uk/sightsoundpoll2012 for the results in full.