Happening this month.

Anchor baby which premiered on the tenth of december continues to show in cinemas across Nigeria.

Through the glass: Out on dvd.Available in stores nationwide.

Bursting out: Out on dvd in America.

COMING SOON

Tango with me

Memories of my heart

Ma'ami

Black Gold.

Watch this space.

The new Sodom and Gomorrah

I know recently there have been a lot of sex movies in the market but most of them have come from Ghana so I have ignored them. Until yesterday, when I saw the trailer of Dirty Secrets. It's probably all in a bid to sell( I understand these movies are hot in demand) more copies but isn't this stooping a little low? Particularly when popular acts are involved?

Do people actually find these things interesting? I think nudity on the black man looks disgusting.

Surely there must be other ways to get the public attention. We are an African nation please: discretion and moderation being some of our core values. Let us not lose everything that we are for a few wads of naira.

Most families watch Africa Magic in the evenings with their children, never mind that it is 9pm and the movies are rated 18. Makes you remember Frank Oliseh: 'It's 9pm, do you know where your children are'.

Should these movies make it to cable, will our children be watching these soft porn movies? The movies are obviously not censored. There's no way they would get past censors baord with such graphic details.

Below are some of the trailers. As one of my favourite TV characters,John Cage would say, I am troubled.

Great Movie Trailers.

Holding Hope leads the bunch with this amazing trailer.



Inale follows. I think the cinematograpghy is just awesome.




Then there's Bursting Out.



It just keeps getting better.

Holding Hope and Bursting Out will premiere this sunday, 8th August,2010. We will keep you posted on the release date of Inale.

Kajola

People say that Nollywood is dying but optimists like us insist the industry is being rebirthed. Kajola is a futuristic drama/action movie directed by Niyi Akinmolayan.

Kajola is the Yoruba word for commonwealth. In the year 2059, Nigeria becomes a totalitarian state. After a second civil war, the rich relocate to the Island areas of Lagos state and turn it into an ultra modern city. The war torn mainland of lagos state is disconnected and abandoned.



A rebel leader, Allen learns of a plot code named kajola to build cities on the mainland and eliminate the remaining survivors. He leads a rebellion against the government and must be stopped by Yetunde, the police chief. Though mortal enemies, both discover that everything they thought they knew was nothing but lies. It’s a story of love and lust and it heightens the fact that if we don’t deal with the segregation and negligence issues facing the country today, then our future is quite predictable because TOMORROW IS TODAY.

The movie shows at Silverbird cinemas, V.I from the 30th of July. Make it a date. I would usually not be interested in sci- fi but coming from one of our own, I'll be sure to see it.

Congratulations Niyi!

City people award winners

Boldly written on the I. V as the start time for the city people entertainment award was 2pm. Even bolder was: NO AFRICAN TIME. However, in true Nigerian style, the show did not commence till about 5pm.

The first award was presented by Ali Baba and it went to ‘The Place’ as the most patronised club. Coming from Ali Baba, I thought it was a joke, didn’t they say it was entertainment awards? Well, a place that hosts entertainers is part of entertainment I guess.


Here are some of the winners:

Most popular female artist:                Keffi

Best Collabo of the year:                   Keffi and Timaya

The award came just as Keffi entered the hall, so she went straight to the stage and before she could get back to her seat, she was called for the second award.

Best International promoter:                        Yinka Farende

Best film Producer:                                      Kunle Afolayan

Best movie director:                                      Kunle Afolayan

Movie of the year:                                         Figurine

Songwriter of the year:                                  Cobhams

Best new musician of the year:                          Skookie

Best new actor of the year:                             O.C Ukeje

Best radio station of the year:                         Classic F.M

Best actor of the year(English)                         Desmond Elliot

Screenwriter of the year:                                 Emem Isong

Best actress of the year( Yoruba)                    Toyin Ayimata

Music video of the year:                                Banky W(strong ting)

Best Hip Hop artist:                                           M.I

Best Rap Artist:                                               Dagrin

Best R&B song of the year:                            Banky W(strong ting)

New comedian of the year:                             Emeka Smith

Best group:                                                   Artquake

Best gospel act of the year:                            Lara George

Best supporting actress of the year:                 Funke Adesina

Best Comedian of the year:                             Lapacious Bose

Most popular song of the year:                         Terry G.

Actress of the year(Ghana):                            Jackie Apia

Actress of the year(English):                           Uche Jombo

Helen Paul and AY were the anchors. Helen Paul may be small in stature but she's got great wits.
So many musicians attended the event and there was a beautiful performance in honour of Dagrin.

Congratulations to all the winners and to City people. God bless y'all.

Madam Kofo

zacky

Eucharia in gold

Susan Peters

The winners in celebrations

Nollywood as a social tool

7,000 copies of EDIKAN- A Royal Arts Academy film has been purchased by Steppingstones Nigeria for free distribution in Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers States. This is in a bid to educate parents on  the ills of labelling children as witches and causing them bodily and pschological harm.

More information on this can be found here.

Please visit SteppingstonesNigeria's website to lend a helping hand. Let's join hands to stop this wickedness to our children.

UCHE JOMBO HOLDS ON TO HOPE

If you’re looking for the definition of a ‘success story’, Uche jumbo is the person to look at.


Several people said she couldn’t make it, others even bet on it. But the determined beautiful young lady defied all her critics and has come out to be one of the biggest brands in Nollywood.

Watching Uche play bitchy roles in movies and play them to the T, you’d think that there was a bit of her in those roles. But if there’s something Uche isn’t, it is bitchy, except of course the bit that is in every woman, the one Shakespeare was talking about.

‘That’s the beauty of acting’, she says, ‘ I can be anything I want to be and get away with it.’

On locations, she’s the crew’s favourite. A good word for someone here and a smile for another and the thing that Nigerians love best, a tip.

Uche is probably one of the biggest givers I know, and that may be the explanation for her rise and rise in the industry and in life generally.

‘Givers don’t lack, it may seem like such a cliché but it is so true, I have found that the more I give, the more the blessings just keep coming my way.’ She says with that bright smile of hers.

Jombo says she wants to empower everyone around her, I believe God blessed me so that I may bless others. If I sit on my blessings then what’s the point?

Uche has starred in several hit movies namely: Celebrities, Games men play, Girls in the hood, Darkest night, Girls cot and so many others.

‘What you need most is passion, that’s what kept me going. I wanted to act and even when it seemed difficult, I knew it was something I wanted to do so I stayed on it. It’s also important to develop one’s craft; the competition is fierce now particularly for new comers so if you’re coming into Nollywood, you must bring something to the table. Producers are not here to do favours, if you have something they want, they’ll find you. So the question upcoming actors should ask themselves is: how can I make myself stand out? If you’re lucky to get a role, even if it’s one scene, play it like you’re playing the lead and someone will notice you.’

According to Desmond Elliot, the new kid on the directing block, Uche is any director’s delight, She always has her lines, it doesn’t matter when she got the script and she doesn’t spend five hours making up. He adds with a mischievous grin. He also expresses pleasure over her interpretation of roles. ‘She’s good, that one, makes your job real easy.’

Uche Jumbo is presently one of Glo’s ambassadors and has an NGO: Uche Jombo and you geared towards the empowerment of youths in Nigeria. There’s also something that’s in the pipeline that’s making her smile a lot, but she’s not ready to say yet.

Her movie: HOLDING HOPE, co-produced with Desmond Elliot and Emem Isong will be premiering next month. NOLLYWOOD HUSTLERS, where she is executive producer will also be released next month.

On her words to young people looking up to her, Uche quotes Aristotle:

‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore is not an act but a habit.’

Literary Yahoo Yahoo.

 A certain Mfonobong Nsehe has been acused of intellectual property theft. It's embarassing, particularly as he is a young Nigerian student studying in Kenya. Why must we always drag the name of our dear country in the mud? See more details here.

So Fidelity bank has lost  Chimamanda Adichie to Farafina Trust. There's no need to be bitter, Fidelity, it's only natural, Farafina published her, promoted her. And the creative workshop idea was hers, she's got every right to pitch her tent else where.

Fidelity still holds its own creative writers workshop in Abuja with Helon Habila. I'm not sure about the choice of Abuja but Artsville wishes them well. Molara wood has more on this.

I DO NOT COME TO YOU BY CHANCE

A beautiful title for a beautiful book. Adaobi last weekend read from her book at a fully packed reading which held at Quintessence. Adaobi reminds me of Adichie in a funny way though the only similarity I can quickly point to is the simplicity of their writing. Nwaubani has written a very easy to read book, not one of those tedious writings common to the Nigerian Literary world. It is a book that has the potential to sell thousands of copies in Nigeria alone if aggressively marketed. We're looking to you o Cassava republic!


A new one from ROYAL ARTS ACADEMY

Helon Habila reviews The Memory of Love.

Helon Habila, in my opinion is one of Nigeria's best. WAITING FOR AN ANGEL is a book you do not forget easily. I did not, however, understand MEASURING TIME. In this review of Aminatta Forna's book-THE MEMORY OF LOVE, Habila shows that he is still the master. It is a brilliant piece, sure to arouse anyone's interest in the book. Below is an excerpt:

Forna writes like a scientist, not only in the accuracy of her descriptions but in the way she selects which incidents to highlight, turning each scene into a metaphor that reverberates with meaning beyond the event itself. One character can't walk, and the doctors are carefully breaking his legs and putting them back together to help him do so. This procedure becomes a symbol for the nation, determined to regain the use of its legs after the crippling civil war.

The full review can be found here

THE ERA OF E.

Nigerians are mostly known for their can do spirit. Long before Obama started screaming yes, we can, Nigerians were showing that yes we could. That even without electricity supply, we would build a multimillion dollar entertainment industry. With most of us self taught, we used candle lights to write scripts and generators to power equipments and birthed Nollywood. The music guys, with most of them coming from not so porche areas of Lagos produced Tu face, Wande Coal, Psquare, Asha and several others that the world has come to recognise. All these without a health care system, electricity supply, security and sometimes even shelter. Fashion has also grown big, the designers probably used chineese made lamps to sketch their designs and now they walk red carpets in major cities across the globe. Yes, certainly, the young Nigerian has shown that he/she can.

Now in our usual self taught manner, we've taught ourselves new media skills. Probably tired of waiting for publishers, Myne Whitman self published and released her book-A heart to mend- online. A group of bloggers followed suit with a collective work: In my dreams it was simpler. Both books are available for purchase on Amazon.

This goes to show that with a little empowerment, a few more resources made available, an enabling environment and the average young Nigerian can take on the world.

O leaders, that thou hadst ears to hear and eyes to see.

Nollyarts felicitates with these fresh talents and encourages other youths to do something positive not withstanding all the forces against us in this our dear country. Someday, we will overcome.