The Nation Newspaper

Category: Entertainment

  • AFRIFF 2014: Organisers announce festival’s top films

    AFRIFF 2014: Organisers announce festival’s top films

    •Invasion 1879 gets special screening

    The organisers of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) have announced The Square, an Oscar-nominated documentary by Egyptian filmmaker, Jehan Noujaim, as the opening night film and Hard To Get, from first-time feature director, Zee Ntuli, as the closing night movie.

    The festival’s Artistic Director, Keith Shiri, said during a press conference at the Eko Hotel and Suites, at the weekend, that AFRIFF 2014 would once again celebrate the amazing artistry that African filmmakers are known for.

    He said: “Our opening night film is The Square, an Oscar-nominated documentary by the Egyptian filmmaker, Jehan Noujaim. This is a stunning film that charts the course of three years of Egyptian political upheaval that began in 2011. Our closing night film, Hard To Get, is a compact, highly enjoyable, kinetic and action thriller. The young South African director, Zee Ntuli, displays a mastery of the action genre with breezy performances from its main cast.”

    Shiri, who was flanked by AFRIFF Founder/CEO, Chioma Ude as well as the festival’s Goodwill Ambassadors, South African actress Xolile Tshabalala and Nollywood star Rita Dominic, noted that this year’s selection is an array of feature films, in addition to “some hard-hitting documentaries and a generous selection of shorts representing over 30 countries from all the regions of Africa.”

    According to him, other films that have made it into the festival’s official selection include Gone Too Far, an adaption from Bola Agbaje’s Olivier award-winning play set in London. Directed by Destiny Ekaragha, the outrageously enjoyable comedy focuses on two estranged Nigerian brothers as they meet for the first time.

    He further stated: “Difret is another affecting feature debut from Ethiopia, detailing the traumatic experience of an Ethiopian girl accused of killing a man who had sexually abused her. Nigeria is strongly represented again this year with Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen’s Invasion 1897 and the much-anticipated Kunle Afolayan’s October 1.

    “There is equally a feast of compelling stories in the short films category, among which is the African Metropolis’ six short films that examine the complexity of urban life from Abidjan, Cairo, Dakar, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi.”

    Emphasizing Nigeria’s strong representation at the festival, Ude revealed that Invasion 1897, an epic on the historical Benin Empire, would enjoy a special screening at the festival

    The film features top Nigerian stars such as Segun Arinze, Paul Obazele, Charles Inojie, the late Justus Esiri and Mike Omoregbe who played the lead role as Omo n’ Oba Ovanrawmen Nogbaisi.

    In addition to the wide range of films, the festival also offers industry platforms for skill acquisition, financing, pitching, symposia on digital distribution and piracy.

    AFRIFF 2014 is scheduled to take place at the popular Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State, from November 9 to 16.

  • 2face Idibia, Tiwa Savage, others thrill at The Beat FM Tripple 9 concert

    2face Idibia, Tiwa Savage, others thrill at The Beat FM Tripple 9 concert

    It was a night of glamour and fun as artistes and fans of The Beat FM 99.9 turned out in style for the celebration of its fifth anniversary tagged The Tripple 9 Concert on Tuesday, September 30, at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The CEO of Beat FM, Chris Ubosi said the concert was held to celebrate those who had supported the station in the last five years.

    “We came here with a plan. We knew the circumstances before we entered into the business. With the goodwill that we have plus support from a lot of our friends, we have been able to overcome our challenges. There have been problems, which we will not lie about. But the fact that we were able to get to where we are shows that with hard work and proper planning, everything can go well in this country,”

    Also, the station’s Programme Director, Olisa Adibua, described the last five years as “wonderful years”, adding that “It has been a fantastic ride. We have been embraced by the people of Nigeria; we have been surprised at the way they embraced us and we are grateful for the love they have shown us. We hope that we can retain the level and quality of what we started. We are celebrating five years of being in existence in Nigeria and we hope to get better as time goes on.”

    Top Nigerian music sensations who thrilled guests at the party include 2face, MI, Ill Bliss, Idibia, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, Omawunmi, Waje and Chidinma.

  • EMCOAN: Content owners threaten showdown with defaulters

    EMCOAN: Content owners threaten showdown with defaulters

    It may no longer be business as usual between the Electronic Media Content Owners Association of Nigeria (EMCOAN) and media agencies, as its leadership is set for a showdown with some media agencies that seem be a pain of sorts in the heads of its members.

    To further underscore its new resolve, the leadership  of the association has directed its members to henceforth discontinue any business relationship with the erring agencies until further notice, as part of the actions being taken by  to get the affected agencies to pay up what it called the “huge debt being owed its members and to begin to project electronic media content owners as vital partners”

    In a release, the Executive Council of the association said it was time the media agencies recognised the invaluable contributions of its members to their operations.

    The President of EMCOAN, Mrs. Debbie Odutayo, said: “For some time now, the Association has complained about the manner in which media agencies treat independent producers, especially regarding payment. The affected media agencies default with reckless abandon on the agreement signed by both parties, completely oblivious of the harsh terrain, where producers go through thick and thin to produce programmes and battle TV stations to ensure transmission so that advert placements run at all costs.”

    The statement further alleged that the affected agencies had owed EMCOAN members millions of Naira for several years.

    “Apart from delayed and irregular payments, these agencies demand a ridiculous and unjustifiable 25% volume discounts, even when the contract being issued cannot be said to be in any volume.

    In some cases, some of these media agencies take more, even up to 40%, thereby stifling members to run at a huge loss,” the statement further stated.

    Consequently, the association has resolved to publish the names of the affected media agencies, if “they refuse to do due diligence within the specified time”

    The association started while some notable Nigerian producers were on a trip to Ghana in 2012, with the sole aim of bringing content owners under one umbrella, where their needs and challenges in the industry would be tabled with a view to proffering lasting solutions.

    The statement further stated that members of the association had always cried out against alleged injustice in the hands of other players like the media houses, advertising agencies, media monitors etc.

    “Television and radio stations demand pre-payment from content owners, knowing full well that the agencies who give them ads to run within their programmes never pre-pay.”

    Another challenge we face with the media houses is the non-transmission of programmes without prior information given to the content owners. This causes untold loss of revenues as the advertisements originally scheduled to run on affected editions cannot be billed to agencies or clients.

    On the other hand, agencies default on the agreed payment plans, thereby causing content owners to renege on their financial obligations to all concerned. Apart from delayed payments, the volume discounts and other extras they request content owners to oblige them are stifling. This affects profitability and the effect spirals down,” the statement said. The association further alleged that media monitoring agencies oftentimes delay reports and sometimes give error reports.

    “A lot of time is wasted on refuting their claims, at the end of which payment time is unduly prolonged or even an outright loss of revenue when stations refuse to produce off-air dub, claiming that the time interval is too long,” it stated.

  • Chris Attoh bags another Hollywood deal

    Chris Attoh bags another Hollywood deal

    GHANAIAN actor, Chris Attoh, has earned himself another opportunity to star in a new movie, Zombie Ted, which will be shot in the United States.

    The Tinsel star, who just got off the set of another movie, The Rangers, said he had been offered another opportunity to “rub shoulders with and get to work” with some more international movie makers.

    “We had a producer on set who offered me another audition. In May 2015, I’m shooting a movie titled Zombie Ted,” the actor revealed.

    Although Attoh did not reveal the details of the movie, he was so excited about the opportunity, saying: “I have been rubbing shoulders with the stars, indeed. I’ve always been putting Ghana on the map. It’s always good to hear people ask ‘Where is he from?’ and having them say ‘Ghana’.”

    He had a son with his fiancée, Nigerian actress Damilola Agbite, recently.

  • Ibadan mourns over tragic death of Lekan Abass,wife

    The city of Ibadan was thrown into mourning with the sudden death of its illustrious son and daughter, Otunba Lekan Abass and his wife, Folake, in quick succession. Ten days after the Ibadan-based socialite gave up the ghost as a result of cardiac arrest, his wife, who had been in coma for weeks, also died.

    Otunba Abass’s death was said to have occurred after a call he received from his sister-in-law telling him that Folake’s health had seriously deteriorated. As he drove to the hospital in company with some friends, Otunba Abass reportedly developed partial stroke. His condition deteriorated so rapidly that he lost control of the car he was driving and it crashed into a wall. The first aid assistance his friends gave was futile as he breathed his last a few metres from the closest hospital.

    The tragic incident was compounded by the eventual death of his wife who was said to have fallen into coma after some drugs were administered on her to manage her deep vein thrombosis (blood clot). Folake died penultimate Friday after two weeks in coma.

  • Kunle Afoloyan lauds Censors Board

    Kunle Afoloyan lauds Censors Board

    THE efforts of Nigeria’s apex movie industry regulator, the National Film and Video Censors’ Board (NFCVB) to redefine the movie sector of the nation’s economy are not going un-noticed by some key industry players.

    One of the latest endorsements is coming from multi- award winning filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, who has given kudos to the regulatory agency for the strides being made.

    In a letter to the Director-General of the agency, Patricia Bala, Afolayan said: “Your strict enforcement of the Code of Ethics governing film and video production in Nigeria is highly commendable, which has resulted in improvement in quality of moral values.”

    The leading filmmaker, who premiered his latest work, October 1, a psychological thriller, on Sunday, September 28, further underscored the impact the regulatory agency is making in the movie industry and by extension, the promotion of arts, cultures and traditions of the Nigerian people and the entire black race.

  • EbonyLife TV launches in South Africa, others

    TOUTED as Africa’s first Global Black entertainment and lifestyle network, EbonyLife TV has launched in South Africa and Southern African countries.

    The channel is gradually expanding its coverage of Africa, having been broadcasting to DStv customers in 44 countries in West, East and Central Africa since its launch in July 2013.

    With over 1000 hours of African programming from a variety of genres  including reality, talk shows, drama, entertainment, food, politics, music, news, lifestyle and comedy shows, CEO of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu said the channel is aimed at youth aged 18 to 34 who constantly yearn for real African content that speaks to their shared values.

    “We are extremely excited about EbonyLife TV’s extension into the Southern African and South African markets, barely a year after our launch. This expansion is due to our success in the rest of Africa. We are proud of the fact that we are a 100 percent homegrown,” she said.

    In the words of Aletta Alberts, GM for Content for MultiChoice, “EbonyLife TV is the perfect example of how entertaining local content can travel across the continent. I’m sure our DStv Compact, Extra and Premium customers will enjoy the wide variety of entertainment on this channel  there really is something for every member of the family. This is Africa at its best.”

    On EbonyLife this September, viewers across Africa will be captivated with sizzling, spell binding and action-packed dramas such as An African City, the story of five young ladies who decide to return home to Africa, with each episode shot as a pulsating new adventure. In another drama, Dowry, two feuding families are being forced to an uneasy truce by the impending marriage of their children until the groom disappears five hours to the wedding.

    In Learning Curves, five first year students at The Providence University in Abuja who have come from different backgrounds and with varying perceptions about life on campus are forced to live together, against their better choices, as part of the school’s research programme. As the quest for power heightens, the search for love increases as the need for acceptance deepens.

    Fattening Room follows six extremely beautiful, feisty and modern women from Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya through a compelling journey of self-discovery in the picturesque city of Calabar as they seek to re-discover the magical legacies of the timeless Efik tradition.

  • Bukky Osunkeye goes anonymous

    Where is Bukky Osunkeye? That is a question that has agitated the minds of many society watchers for some time now. After her ubiquitous face on the social scene, Bukky has for some time now become a scarce item in social circles. Her absence is so total that her whereabouts or current engagement is not even within the realm of speculation.

    When Bukky, daughter of Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, a former managing director of Nestle Nigeria Plc, entered the social scene with a bang some years ago, not a few people had thought that the self-driven lady would etch her marks in the social landscape.

    And she actually did. She made an immediate impact and leveraged on that momentary buzz to open her T-shirt and leather outfit called De’La Zaria on Sanusi Fafunwa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. But two years after, the once busy celebrity fashion house was closed down. She then moved to television broadcasting as a co-anchor of Style Me, a fashion television programme, for just a season.

    She has since given partying or any social outing a wide berth. No one seems to know what she has been up to lately. Could it be that she has found a place in the corporate sector where her dad was a giant and still pulls the strings as a member of the boards of numerous companies in the private sector?

  • Independence Day: Fun,excitement at The Ventura

    IT was excitement and fun galore in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday as people converged on the new fast- growing family entertainment mall, The Ventura, to mark the nation’s independence day.

    The beautification of the place with a torch of green white green made the venue, which berthed in May this year, the cynosure of all eyes.

    An excited mother, Mrs. Serah Johnson, who brought her kids to have fun at the mall, said: “I am happy that Ibadan is fast developing and what we are seeing at The Ventura today proves that Ibadan has come of age.

    Speaking with newsmen at the venue, the Ventura’s spokesperson and consultant, Phizzle, said: ” The Ventura is an exciting, all- encapsulating hub of entertainment. It gives you a new mix of entertainment that has never being so combined because of the unique freshness, the daring environment and the serene airspace that it seeks to create.”

    The highlight of the fun-filled day was the raffle draw,  as many went home with exciting rewards.

  • Duncan Mighty tours Europe

    Duncan Mighty tours Europe

    SOUTH-SOUTH singer, Duncan Mighty, is currently on a tour of the cities of Stockholm in Sweden and Vienna in Austria for his ongoing Europe tour.

    The artiste disclosed this via his Instagram page, saying, “Osheee…Sweden and Austria and now US tour kicks off on October 3. Port Harcourt’s first son disturbing the globe with his new hit single titled Package, a local tradition love song for his fans to enjoy.”