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Tag: Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen

  • Dignitaries to grace Lancelot Imasuen’s book launch in Lagos

    Dignitaries to grace Lancelot Imasuen’s book launch in Lagos

    As part of  the activities lined up in celebration of DGuv at 30, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen will be unveiling a trip-in-motion, a memoir that chronicles his experience in the landscape of Nollywood on Thursday, 27th November, 2025 at the iconic Mike Adenuga’s elegant edifice, Alliance Française, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The book, written by renowned poet and author of ‘The Broken Cross and Bush Radio,’ Godson Osarenren, and will be unveiled in Lagos as the climax to a two-week long celebration of Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen 30-years behind the camera.

    Distinguished guests, Nollywood’s best, diplomats, captains of industries, top politicians, socialites, and friends of Lancelot Imasuen are all expected to grace this high octane and star-studded event.

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    At the event, Imasuen will be giving awards to appreciate men and women who have supported his lifelong career in the make-believe world. Notable among them are; Late Captain Hosa Okubor, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Sir Emmanuel Isikaku who was the first person that funded Lancelot’s film in the year 1996, and several other notable individuals, as the launch is intended to be a packed event.

    Lancelot’s 30-years behind the camera celebration will start on November 15th, 2015 with an open street casting that is going to happen in various major streets in Benin and ending at the place where he grew up as a young child. Then, the colloquium, which will be the major event, will take place in Benin, which will see the unveiling of Oduwa Imasuen Lancelot, OIL Foundation. A Foundation that is poised to help resuscitating and rejuvenating dramatic and film clubs across various schools in Edo State.

  • Omotola, Ali Nuhu, Imasuen get BON Awards

    Omotola, Ali Nuhu, Imasuen get BON Awards

    The ninth edition of the Best of Nollywood ( BON ) Awards holds today, Saturday, December 16, at the Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun state.

    This year’s edition which will be hosted by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led Ogun State government will have Kannywood sensation, Rahama Sadau and Tinsel star cum model, Gbenro Ajibade, act as comperes while Jaywon and other artistes would perform at the ceremony.

    “The current administration in Ogun State is proud to be identified with this event and we promise to give all the needed support to ensure that this year’s edition is an even greater success story,” Dayo Adeneye, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, said.

    And with expectant nominees straddling different categories, the trio of Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde, Ali Nuhu and filmmaker, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, are the recipients of the Best of Nollywood Awards 2017 Special Recognition award.

    Speaking on the Special Recognition Award, the executive producer, Seun Oloketuyi said, “Every year, we take it upon ourselves to recall the sacrifices and strides of those elders whose arts and artistry have catalysed the growth and global acceptance that Nollywood enjoys today. We don’t want to wait until these veterans are dead to give them posthumous awards, which is why we have decided to celebrate them while they are still alive and active. Besides, this year’s honourees are a source of inspiration to young actors and budding filmmakers across Nigeria and beyond.”

    Meanwhile, leading telecommunications company, Airtel, according to Oloketuyi, has thrown its weight behind this year’s awards ceremony.

    “We are happy to have Airtel on board this year. We hope the partnership would be even more mutually beneficial in the years ahead,” Oloketuyi said.

  • Omotola, Ali Nuhu for BON special recognition award

    SUPERSTAR actors, Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde and Ali Nuhu, alongside filmmaker, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, will be bestowed with the Best of Nollywood Special Recognition award, organisers have announced.

    The event holds Saturday, December 16 at the Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The chief host is the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

    Speaking on the choice of the awardees, Seun Oloketuyi, executive producer, BON Awards, said, “We are glad to announce Omotola Jalade Ekehinde, Ali Nuhu and Lancelot Oduwa-Imasuen as recipients of this year’s Special Recognition Awards. You would concur that they deserve it for their achievements and contributions to the industry.”

    Describing Omotola as perhaps Nigeria’s biggest cinematic export, Oloketuyi said; “There was no contest in her choice in spite of her relatively young age. Here is a lady who broke into the industry before she turned 18 and two decades after, is still a veritable box-office face in an industry known for ephemeral stars. It goes beyond luck. The recognition from TIME Magazine as one of the Most Influential 100 people in the world in 2013 is a pointer to her relentless artistic enterprise and ingenuity. And we at BON Awards are happy to be associated with such iconic actor.”

    In the same vein, Oloketuyi spoke glowingly about Lancelot Oduwa-Imasuen who he describes as a director’s director. “Lancelot’s longevity and relevance in Nollywood is the stuff of legends. In spite of the incursion of younger, technology-savvy directors into Nollywood, Lancelot has evolved and attained a pied piper status of sort. He deserves the recognition like the others.”

    Over the years, the BON Awards Special Recognition has been received by among other actors, Liz Benson-Ameye, Nobert Young, Pete Edochie, Adebayo Salami and Kasim Yaro, a legend in the Hausa entertainment industry.

  • Suspected film pirate nabbed in Lagos

    Suspected film pirate nabbed in Lagos

    • IG orders that case be moved to Abuja
    This may be the beginning of a real legal battle against intellectual property theft, as a suspected pirate, Eze Obasi, on Tuesday, was apprehended in Alaba market, Lagos, following tip off.
    This happened two days after the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a meeting with stakeholders in the film industry declared war against pirates, “this is totally unacceptable!” he said. “This Administration is determined to fight this scourge, and the good news is that we have the backing of Mr. President.
    Obasi may just be the first of similar cases to be attacked with all seriousness, as the Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase has ordered the transfer of Obasi to Abuja.
    Arase was acting on the directive of the Minister of Information and Culture, who was contacted by a prominent member of the film industry who craved anonymity.
    Earlier, filmmakers were agitated over the relocation of Obasi, thinking it was another ploy to release the suspect, who has the backing of king pins in the market.
    But the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Culture, Williams Adeleye confirmed to The Nation that his boss was indeed aware of the case and had contacted the IG about it.
    Speaking to The Nation at the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC)’s office where he was taken to on Thursday for questioning, Obasi admitted to the crime, saying; “They caught me with pirated movies.”
    Although the NCC officials would not allow our reporter take the picture of the suspect, they let him talk to us at length. He is a man in his early thirties.
    He confessed that he was on his way to make supply, having prepared the waybill.
    One of the major films being processed by obasi as at the time he was caught was Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen’s movie, Invasion 1897. He claimed he is new in the business.
    “It was after Invasion 1897 came out. That was when customers were demanding for it, my customer told me to send him some copies of the film.”
    But contrary to Obasi’s claim, prominent movie marketer, Gabriel Okoye, aka Gabosky, said Obasi had indeed been arrested for similar case in the past.
    You must have been doing the business before for you to know that customers are demanding for Invasion 87, The Nation asked. “Customers do buy different market so they know want, I’ve not been doing it for a long time,” he insisted, but added he was merely dealing in foregn films before now.
    “It was where I went to but that I saw this one (Invasion 1897)  na im I cun buy am to go do waybill,” he said in pigeon.
    How do you do the waybill you share to other people for sale? He replied: “Na only one guy call me I cun go carry am so as I carry am dey go do waybill na em police catch me for road.”
    He said further, his voice unstable: “I don’t know, I am just begging the owners of the movies to temper justice with mercy and I promise that I won’t do it again.  I know that it is not good and it’s not that I really want to be doing this business but it is because of my background and assuming I have enough capital I would gone abroad to start a business or maybe be an importer. I am even planning to further my education because I am just an O’level holder.
    “It’s not that am really doing it to wicked the owners of the movies, am just trying to raise money to further my education. Please I am begging for forgiveness I promise I won’t do it again.”
    Who are the people that supply him these movies? “These people are inside Alaba international market,” he said. “Even though the Alaba government is against it they are doing it secretly, Alaba market no allow this kind thing.”How come they are doing this and the Alaba authorities don’t know? “Maybe they are settling some people. “That means there are corrupt officials among the Alaba government? “I don’t know my brother just help me beg them,” were his words.
    According to Gabosky, CEO of G-Media who was at the NCC office early Thursday, “Invasion 1897 belongs to Lancelot Imasuen and it was released by G-Media on the 15Th of February.”
    He narrated the incidents that led to the arrest of Obasi.
    “Majorly, the film is about Benin Kingdom and the position of the then Oba in1897 and Lancelot went to Benin and solicited with the people and the Oba not to allow the scourge of piracy that is bedeviling the industry to extend there with that film Invasion and they promised. So when this pirate, Eze Obasi way-billed it to somebody in Benin, the person returned it to him saying that he will not because he doesn’t want the curse they will place on whoever pirates the movie in Benin to extend to him.
    “This was how the police at Ojo were contacted and they sprang into action. I asked them what their plan was for the pirate, they said they will take him to court because they can’t hold him for more than 48hours. I know that once they take him to magistrate court they will discharge him and they will go without any more follow up. I had to call the NCC since this copyright issue is on exclusive legislative list which allows the Copyright Commission to be the only legal body to prosecute on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
    ‘This morning the copyright commission followed up by sending an officer to Ojo Cantonment, I also sent my own lawyer to supervise and they brought the guy, Eze Obasi.
    “When they brought him here, I now saw that it was the same guy that we arrested when he pirated October 1 by Kunle Afolayan. When we arrested him then, the Alaba people fought that we couldn’t do anything, it became a problem to remove him from Alaba market so we had to use Alaba market chairman to get him to write an undertaken that he will not do this thing again which he did and we seized the copies of the works from him.
    “So when I saw that he is the same person again I asked him; were you not the one who signed this undertaken? He said yes, he say na devil. I had to come here to oblige them my statement, called Lancelot to oblige them his statement. Let’s see what will happen again because we are handicapped by the kind of law we are using to prosecute these criminals.”
    Gabosky lamented that, “Most of the producers are down, some are dying of hunger because these boys are moving from one clan which is Abakaliki and they are just pirating people’s work, getting richer while the government is not doing anything.”
    He expressed regrets that although the Copyright Commission will charge him to court and then start prosecuting him, “but sometimes they will be on that prosecution while the suspect goes back and continues the business because the fine they give them is nonsense.”
    The NCC official, Mr Joe however declined comments on the matter.
  • Ovanrawmen Nogbaisi ‘resurrects’

    Ovanrawmen Nogbaisi ‘resurrects’

    •Filmmaker asks return of looted Benin artworks from museums

    As frontline Nollywood filmmaker, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen plans to premiere his new epic movie, Invasion 1897; there is a historical addendum that might make the ceremony huge.

    Imasuen has revealed plans to mark the centenary of the death of the great King of Benin, Omo n’ Oba Ovanrawmen Nogbaisi. And his new film, which centers on the Oba’s historical relevance to the old Benin Empire, will be on hand to bring historical records to the fore.

    Top Nigerian stars in the epic include Segun Arinze, Paul Obazele, Mike Omoregbe who played the lead role as Oba Ovoramwen, Charles Inojie and the late Justus Esiri.

    Invasion 1897 has been endorsed by the Benin monarch, Oba Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolopolo and by the Edo state government.

    The film production is co-financed by Senator Daisy Danjuma and South Atlantic Petroleum Limited, supported by Capt (Dr.) Hosa Okunbor, the Chairman of FEVA TV in Toronto, Canada and J2konsult in the UK are marketing the film in Europe and planning the London unit of the movie.

    According to the filmmaker, the flick is based on the invasion of the Benin Kingdom by the British Empire in 1897 and looting the priceless ancient artifacts of the Benin kingdom, including the famous commemorative head and pendant of ivory mask representing Queen Idia (from court of Benin, 16th century) who was the mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin who ruled from 1504 to 1550. The commemorative head is at the British Museum, while the pendant is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA.

    “It will coincide with the country’s centenary celebration and which marks 100 years Oba Ovonramen N’ogbaisi (the then sitting Oba) died in exile in Calabar, on the 14th of January, 1914, where he was banished by the British.”Imassuen said.

    Imasuen said the project will also “kick start our call for reparations by the return of all the looted Benin artworks from all the museums around the world.”

    The historical film, he said, “is bound to raise a lot of dust regarding the global injustice meted to the people of Benin after the United Kingdom force of 1,200 under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson in 1897, captured, burnt, and looted ancient artifacts belonging to the Benin Kingdom.”

    Report say that ahead of the movie premiere, the notable film director will be hosting special guests from the Corporate world and leading journalists at his newly established studios in Surulere, Lagos.

    According to him, “There are a whole lot of similarities between the Nigeria state and the Oba Ovonramwen phenomenon. We will be holding a world press conference to mark 100 year of the death of Oba Ovonramwen on the 14th of January, 2014. I visited the place where Oba Ovonramwen lived, died and was buried in Calabar. To others, it’s just a film. But to me, it’s a movement. On 14th of January, we are going to mark the centenary of Oba Ovonramwen demise in Calabar.”

  • Lancelot Imasuen wins Africa’s slot in 26-segment movie

    Lancelot Imasuen wins Africa’s slot in 26-segment movie

    While many Nollywood filmmakers are seeking government appointments, with many more struggling with the association’s politics and hinging their excuses on the piracy-ridden film industry, one man who has remained consistent in the art is Benin, Edo State-born filmmaker, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen.

    Known for historical flicks, Imasuen, the director of Adesuwa, is breaking new grounds, not just with his much- publicized epic movie, Invasion 1897, but he is also currently basking in the euphoria of being the only African director among the 26 selected directors making the short horror thrillers of The ABCs of Death series.

    Only last September, the prolific filmmaker was at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he announced, alongside his associates, the birth of a new project, Feva TV, a 24-hour broadcasting meant to serve North America with African contents and rid that clime of the dearth that had led to huge pirating of Nigerian films.

    Imasuen’s inclusion in the second part of The ABCs of Death has shot him to global limelight as millions of movie lovers await the next 26 segments of the horror series.

    The first part of The ABCs of Death 2012 American anthology horror comedy film was produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League, a thriller of 26 different shorts, each by different directors spanning 15 countries.

    The 26 chapters assigned a letter of the alphabet and the directors were free to choose a word to create a story involving death. The varieties of death range from accidents to murders. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and was released on VOD on January, 31 and in theatres on March 8, 2013, with end credits featuring the music of Australian band Skyhooks’ 1974 song, Horror Movie.

    Known for movies that focus on the unexplored aspects of the African experience, including tribalism, witchcraft, crime, poverty, religion and folk beliefs, Imasuen has just concluded his own segment for the Alphabet P, a three-minute piece entitled Prince Venom, which explores the horrors of death anthology in Benin.

    For The ABCs of Death 2, a contest was held for the role of the 26th director. The winner was UK-based director, Lee Hardcastle, who submitted the claymation short for T. The horror anthology runs with the tagline: 26 directors, 26 ways to die. For the first 25 segments, a group of 25 directors were engaged and each was given a letter of the alphabet and then tasked with creating a short film about death inspired by that letter. The result was a string of shorts, including “D is for Dogfight”; “F is for Fart”; “M is for Miscarriage” and more twisted titles to get the viewers’ heads spinning.

    The filmmaker is expected to be in London later for the British locations of Invasion 1897, featuring Nigerian- born Charles ‘Chucky’ Venn, who is famous for his roles as Curtis Alexander in Sky’s One’s Dream Team; Tremaine Gidigbi in Footballers’ Wives and as Ray Dixon in EastEnders. It also stars the St. Lucian-born English actor, Joseph Marcell, who has acted in over 34 films and three TV shows, including The Santa Trap, Brothers And Sisters and The Bill- he is also popularly known for his role as Geoffrey, the English butler on the NBC sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

    The top Nigerian stars in the epic include Segun Arinze; Paul Obazele; Mike Omoregbe who played the lead role as Oba Ovoramwen; Charles Inojie and the late Justus Esiri.

    Invasion 1897 has been endorsed by the Benin monarch, Oba Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolopolo and the Edo State government.

    The film production is co-financed by Senator Daisy Danjuma and South Atlantic Petroleum Limited and is supported by Capt. (Dr.) Hosa Okunbor, the chairman of FEVA TV in Toronto, Canada.

    Meanwhile, UK-based J2konsult, which is marketing the movie, is also planning the London unit of the movie.

    Invasion 1897 (Nogbaisi Ovonramwen), according to the filmmaker, is based on the invasion of the Benin Kingdom by the British Empire in 1897 and the looting of the priceless ancient artifacts of the Benin kingdom, including the famous commemorative head and pendant of ivory mask representing Queen Idia (from court of Benin, 16th century) who was the mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin who ruled from 1504 to 1550.