Guardian

POPULAR French actress, Audrey Tautou, who is best known for her role (as a shy waitress who set out to improve the life of those around her) in the critically acclaimed 2001 film, Amelie, will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Cannes Film Festival in May, the organisers have said. The opening ceremony of the festival, which is in its 66th edition, holds on May 15 while the closing is May 26. It was Berenice Bel, star of the film, The Artist, that hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 edition of the film feast. Already, renowned director and Hollywood legend, Steven Spielberg, has been announced as the head of the festival jury while Jerome Salle’s film, Zulu, starring Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker, and Orlando Bloom, will close the festival next month, according to a statement by the organisers. The film, adapted from the eponymous novel by French author, Caryl Ferey, was shot entirely on location in South Africa. Widely regarded as the world’s top film festival, it opens with Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo di Caprio in a remake of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel. Zulu is set in Cape Town against the background of a country still overshadowed by apartheid and where affluent suburbs rub shoulders with dirty poor townships. It tells story of two police officers played by Bloom and Whitaker caught up in a search described by organisers as combining “elements of political film noir and social study”. The movie was co-written by Julien Rappeneau with a score by Alexandre Desplat. 

Whitaker, in 2007, won the best actor of the Academy Award for his role as former Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin Dada, in The Last King of Scotland. He also won best actor at Cannes in 1988 for his role in Clint Eastwood’s Bird. The organisers say a full list of the films in official selection will be announced in due course.

AMAA crest for Heroes and Zeroes

HEROES and Zeroes, the movie directed by the AMAA Best Director for 2013, Niji Akanni, and produced by the one stop entertainment company, Koga Entertainment, last Saturday in Yenegoa, clinched three African Movie Academy Awards, thus making the company’s debut movie the highest award winner in the industry, this year. The movie received the crest for screenplay, editing and best director. Starring Bimbo Manuel and Nadia Buari as lead actors, the movie tells the story of Dibu and Fele, two major gladiators whose lives are later left in total disarray. The movie was nominated in six categories — Achievement in Sound, Editing, Screen Play, Best Nigerian Film, Best Actor in Leading Role and Best Director. The movie eventually won awards in the Editing, Best Directing and Best Screenplay categories thereby making it the highest award-winning movie both from Nollywood and other African countries. Koga Entertainment has been rolling out exciting materials and high tech gadgets in the entertainment scene, which include the launch of their online TV, www.Koga.tv, acquisition of state of the art equipment at their studios, acquisition of ArriAlexa camera, the best and most expensive camera in film style digital motion picture, which has been used to shoot lots of award winning movies. Koga Entertainment has also been successfully organising the annual Top 10 Mics concert.

NAPTIP hosts cast of Itohan

IN recognition of the good job being done by Superstory’s Itohan in sensitising Nigerian audience about the dangers of human trafficking, prostitution and child labour, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) Executive Secretary, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, hosted the producers, cast and crew of the award-winning TV Series to lunch and an interactive session at the NAPTIP Lagos office, Ikeja GRA, on Thursday, April 18. NAPTIP has been in the forefront of war against human trafficking in Nigeria since 2003, and recently, partnered with Wale Adenuga Productions Ltd. to produce the Itohan: A Call to Action story to further spread the message to millions of households across the country through the popular TV Drama. Others present at the event include NAPTIP Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations, Arinze Orakwue; and Lagos Zonal Head, Joseph Famakin; Superstory Producers Wale Adenuga MFR and Wale Adenuga Jnr.; Script Writer Lucille Ayorinde; Director Patience Oghre Imobhio; Production Manager Lekan Ayinde; and main cast members Tamara Eteimo (Itohan), Stephen Imobhio (Sylvester), Gloria Young (Madam Imade), Charles Okocha (Dosu), Kristy Imanlihen (Mrs. Idahor), Chidex Brown (Sammy), Mary Lazarus (Onome) and Mercy Effiong (Madam Nene). The event was recorded and aired on wapTV on StarTimes across Nigeria.

Upbeat swing for Nollywood Week in Paris

NOLLYWOOD Week Paris, a private sector initiative developed by France-based YK Projects and aimed at creating a stimulating platform for networking and dialogue between the Nigerian film professionals and their French counterparts, will hold in Paris between May 30 and June 2. The event, according to the dance artiste and co-convener, Qudus Onikeku, is conceived to showcase the best of Nollywood films to the French audience. “The commercial potential for Nollywood in France is huge,” Onikeku said. Similarly, the projects Executive Director and Co-founder, Serge Noukoue, explained that the project was also conceived to draw attention and bring recognition to Nollywood, an industry he described as the ‘’industry with the most influential storytellers in Africa.”  Noukoue stated that there is no better time to shift gears away from the public perception of Nollywood films, that is “from its perception of low-quality films” than in a year that the industry was marking 21 years of sustained movie production.  So, for four days commencing May 30, seven top Nigerian films including Tunde Kelani’s Maami, Mahmood Ali-Balogun’s Tango With Me and Kunle Afolayan’s Phone Swap that have been selected by the organisers will show at the prestigious, L’Arlequin Theatre in Paris. Obi Emelonye’s Last Flight to Abuja, Akin Omotosho’s Man on Ground and Keke Bongos Ikwue and Jeta Amata’s Inale are the other movies on the show that is projected to attract over 2000 attendees. But it will not only be films shows at L’Arlequin theatre. The projects Director of Administration, Hajarat Alli, disclosed that in addition to the daily screening of the seven films, there would be a panel discussion with experts and industry leaders and a couple of scheduled professional encounters. “We have invited international distributors across Europe to the show and we are optimistic that those attending will be able to effectively network and strike deals,” Alli said. Headquartered in Paris, YK Projects are reputed as creators of artistic projects that are geared towards providing a new access to the arts for local audiences. Founded by the trio of Serge Noukoue, Nadira Shakur and one of Nigeria’s notable dance export, Onikeku, the organizers explained that the diversity of the French population especially in Paris where large West African communities reside makes it an ideal terrain for Nollywood.