IJE: THE JOURNEY

Ije: The Journey tells the story of two sisters with unbreakable bonds of loyal and the power of the human spirit. When  Anya (Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde), the eldest of the two, vows to chase her dreams of glamour in the Hollywood Hills, her younger sister  Chioma (Genevieve Nnaji )warns of her of the dark side of the American Dream.  Now, years later, and in a world away from the life she knew, Anya is charged with the murder of three men, one of them her powerful husband.  Chioma travels to sister’s side to battle not only a flawed justice system with the aid of a young and disillusioned attorney, but the very notion of “truth” as the cultural values of two worlds collide.

Weaving a melodic and beautiful score through rich visuals in Los Angeles and flashbacks on location in Nigeria, IJE captures the viewer from the very first scene and delivers a powerful message through the moving conclusion. 

Produced and directed by Nigerian international filmmaker, Chineze Anyaene, founder of  Xandria Productions, the movie stars Omotola and Genevieve as well as Nollywood star Clem Ohameze alongside international actors such as Odalys Garcia, Jeff Swarthout and Ulrich Que, will also be premiered in the UK, United States and other European countries between now and next year. Immediately after the Lagos premiere, Ije:The Journey, will make its round in local cinemas across the country.

‘Bariga Boy’ Wins AfroPop Film Prize

Filmmaker Femi Odugbemi’s ‘Bariga Boy’ on Wednesday, May 19, won the AfroPop Prize for Best Film at the 5th Real Life Documentary Festival in Accra, Ghana. The award is the third honour the film on Segun Adefila and the Crown Troupe of Africa has won recently. It won the Best Documentary Prize at the 2010 AMAA Awards in April and won in the same category at the Abuja Film Festival.

Eminent academics, literary, film and art personalities attended the award ceremony held at Goethe Institut, Accra. They include Manthia Diawara, professor and head, Literature and African Studies, New York University, who launched a book on African cinema at the occasion; Ed Gurrero, professor of Film Studies at New York University; filmmakers Christine Choy, Yeman Demissie from Ethiopia and Stephanie Black.

Chair of the ceremony, the poet Kofi Anyidoho, noted that the festival “is dedicated to documentary films based on the histories, peoples, heroes, cities and locations of African and diasporic communities. It brings together filmmakers, scholars, students and film enthusiasts to one of the greatest historic Pan-African cities in the world – Accra.”

Anyidoho added that the festival is on its way to becoming Africa’s major forum for the production, cataloguing and exhibition of documentary film records of African and African-diasporic subjects in global history because of the dedication of its founders, Lydie Diakhate and Awam Amkpa.

The winner of the AfroPop Prize sponsored by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), United States, paid tribute to Adefila and the Crown Troupe in his acceptance speech. He noted that Adefila is a model worth emulating by other youth because of his passion for advocating social change with his works despite operating in a hostile environment. Odugbemi reiterated that, “for Africa to catch up with the world infrastructurally, politically and economically, artists of all shades must stand up to be counted. Our talent must speak out to challenge power and inspire change.”

Co-founder and co-director of the festival, Diakhate lauded the Nigerian filmmaker’s win. “I am very happy that Femi Odugbemi got the AfroPop Prize. He did a beautiful work and I really enjoyed the way he portrayed a young gifted Nigerian artist and his neighbourhood.”

She added that, “The awards are for me very important because it is a great opportunity for the festival to give recognition to contemporary African visual productions.”

Other awards presented at the festival which started on Sunday, May 16 and ended on Thursday, May 20 were the Walter Mosley Prize worth $5,000 won by Yemani Demissie and Joe Ampha Prize which carries a cash prize of $1,000. Young Ghanaian student filmmaker, Elizabeth Coleman, won the prize for her short film ‘Camp Healing’.

                                                           







                                                 

Several documentary films including John Akomfrah’s ‘The Genome Chronicles’; Senegalese Ousmane Mbaye’s ‘Mere Bi’ and Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer’s collaboration, ‘Kinshasha Symphony’ were screened at the festival. ‘Twilight Revelations’ by Ethiopia’s Yemane Demissie and ‘Africa Unite’ by Stephanie Black were also shown.

With this win, Odugbemi’s ‘Bariga Boy’ will likely be shown on ‘AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange’, a US based public TV show featuring independent documentaries and short films about life art and culture from the contemporary African Diaspora. The show is hosted by actor Idris Elba and the winner of the AfroPop award is offered a three-year contract worth up to $8000.

Source: 234next.com

Arugba: Ready to Hit Market

The much awaited 2009 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) award Achievement in Costume and Heart of Africa award Arugba has been scheduled for release on 14 of June 2010

The movie is written by Ade Adeniji and produced/directed by Tunde Kelani himself. The filmmaker explained that the collaboration is based on experiences got at the annual Osun Osogbo festival and the latter’s inspiration from his previous documentary about the festival.

Set against the backdrop of a corrupt society seeking cleansing, rebirth and nationhood, with all the attendant intrigues, Arugba must perform her annual traditional role of carrying the sacrifice in a procession to the river.

Please buy original copy of the movie so that you watch the original story of the movie.

FILMING AGAINST THE ODDS

Indaba on 50 Years of Film in Independent Africa

CALL FOR PAPERS

African Media Centre, University of Westminster, London, UK / LONDON

AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Filming Against the Odds Conference, London, 27-28 November 2010

This is a call for papers from the African Media Centre at the University of Westminster for a one-day conference on 50 years of filmmaking in independent Africa. A half a century ago, Sub-Saharan Africa welcomed independence with a wave of optimism. A new cinema was born, championed by the Senegalese film-maker Ousmane Sembène. This new cinema would provide a conduit of expression for voiceless Africans – revealing social conditions and sharing stories. Sembène's first short film, Borom Sarret, was a watershed.

It reached a worldwide audience with a plot based on the tale of a poor cart driver whose tragic life mirrored the hazards facing many ordinary people. Borom Sarret's issues became dominant themes in African cinema. Prior to political independence, colonial rule did not allow Africans to make their own films. African independence seems to have given the environment needed to produce African stories on the screen. Not only was political independence a subject in films, but the environment it created gave an added impetus to both independent and institutionally supported film-making in Africa.

African filmmakers have produced stories that celebrate success and failure in their societies. African history, language and etymology are evident in the ways in which some filmmakers have sought an independent form to help indigenize the medium.
Today, Nigeria has become the centre of a lucrative home video industry known as Nollywood. According to a recent UN statement, around 900 titles are released in Nigeria each year and bring revenue of about £100m, and Nigeria has surpassed Hollywood to become the world's second largest film producer after Bollywood. Movies are made on the cheap and copies are exported, sold on the street, or distributed via increasing numbers of video clubs. The film-makers have to work fast and around the clock in their desperate attempt to fend off the pirates.

The contemporary African film industry is clearly of global proportions.

However, the questions that must be asked are: whose languages are spoken in African film?

What are the patterns of stories that have been told so far?

What formats do African filmmakers use?

What themes?

How has funding affected what is produced?

What are the politics of film-making in Africa?

Apart from development, education and entertainment, has film on the continent advanced the emancipation of Africans?

What has been the relationship between political independence and African film?

The conference will include a session with leading African filmmakers.

Papers may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
- Precolonial film in Africa
- Contemporary and historical dimensions of film in Africa
- Language and African film
- African languages and film in Africa
- Global, national, local aspects of film in Africa
- Screen media Africa
- Identity politics and the media in Africa
- Film funding in Africa
- Educational film in Africa
- Politics and film in Africa
- Distributing films in Africa
- Style and aesthetics of African film
- History of African film
- Film audiences in Africa


Please e-mail your 200-word abstract to Helen Cohen at: journalism@westminster.ac.uk

All submissions must include the title of the conference, topic, an abstract and should list the author’s full name, with contact information and affiliation.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31 July 2010 and those whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by 5 August 2010.

Conference Fees:

Unwaged/Students: £50
Waged/Non-Students: £125

Fees cover registration, conference pack, lunch, coffee/tea and wine reception.

Introduction

Movie Journal takes you behind the scenes to the inside workings of Nollywood and the movie business. This blog will provides movie analysis and commentary on new releases, independent and international films. It will covers all the changing technology and business decisions affecting the film industry in Nigeria.


I hope you will visit this blog next time for blockbuster stories and news in Nollywood film industry.


Thanks,

The Publisher.