Eko International Film Festival 2016 Theme “Product Placement in Films”

EKOIFF FESTIVAL THEME‘Product Placement in Films’ is the festival theme of 2016 Eko International Film Festival coming up October 24-29,2016.

The festival theme will be one of the major discussions during the Eko International Film Festival Master Class.

Participants will come from the film industry especially film directors and producers and professionals from companies – multinationals.

The master class conversation will help filmmakers leverage on company brands around their demography in collaborating in film business.

The on two days master class will be debating on how filmmakers and product and servicing companies can work together in promoting their brands through films.

Master classes offer an opportunity for renowned directors to share their screen experience and memories and dialogue with an audience of film lovers.

We look forward seeing you during the Master Class.

MASTER CLASS

Eko International Film Festival Launch a Film Institute.

FILM INSTITUTE

The annual Eko International Film Festival is to launch a film institute during her 7th edition coming up October 24-29.2016.The institute is billed to fill the gap between the new entrants into the Nollywood film industry and established practitioners.

The launch will be during the festival workshop on

Youth development in art workshop: 7th edition Eko Int’l Film Festival.

Our two-day workshop in youth development in Arts will be of immense benefit to our young generation. Arts can save lives. Arts can turn around a troubled teenager; get young men and women off the streets into creative and constructive pursuit. Art can change attitude, build self-esteem and redirect the path of wayward, art can also prevent despair. The workshops will engage young men and women into a more meaningful way to look inside themselves to rediscover their potentials.

Training Modules

  • Screening-writing
  • Directing
  • Cinematography
  • Editing
  • Sound

“AMAKA’S KIN – The Women of Nollywood”

 Amaka's kinDedicated to the memory of the late Nigerian Amazon Filmmaker and TV mogul, Amaka Igwe (1963-2014), AMAKA’S KIN chronicles the journey and challenges of female directors working within the Nigerian Motion Picture Industry popularly known as Nollywood.This documentary examines the careers of the very few female directors practicing in the very male dominated Nigerian film industry, widely known as Nollywood; their journey and pain,their joys and the challenges and hurdles they had to jump to become directors of film.

Referencing and dedicated to the life and art of Nigeria’s most prominent female director, the late Amaka Igwe, (1963-2014), who inspired and encouraged many female directors like myself and others to explore the terrain and conquer the norm, this documentary carries the voices and thoughts of prominent and practicing female directors in Nigeria––and also examines how we as contemporary filmmakers are encouraging the next generation of filmmakers and the future while overcoming the odds.”AMAKA’S KIN – The Women Of Nollywood” stars:
Mildred Okwo, Michelle Bello, Stephanie Linus, Omoni Oboli, Blessing Effiom Egbe, Pat Oghre Imobhio, Jadesola Osiberu, Adeola Osunkojo, Dolapo Lowladee Adeleke, Belinda Yanga Agedah, Ema Edosio and Tope Oshin.

 Tope-Oshin.-e1467283497432Director Tope Oshin

The film is written, directed and produced by Tope Oshin (www.topeoshin.com), cinematography by Segun Adekoya, Ema Edosio, Ebenezer Sogo and Ade Oshin, Edited by Ade Oshin and Music Score & Sound Design by Truth.For more information and to follow progress on the film towards screenings and release, please follow and visit our online pages:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmakasKin
Imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5622406/
Website: www.topeoshin/films-tv

13th Abuja International Film Unveiled …..

abuja fThe Abuja International Film Festival Called AIFF Is Today Nigeria’s Biggest And Longest Running Independent Film Festival In Anglophone West Africa Has Announced The Theme Of The Festival For The 2016 Edition.
The Theme Of The Film Festival For 2016 Is “Connecting the Global Audience ”

Previous Editions Of The Festival Had Witnessed Participation From Delegates From Over 20 Countries Amongst Them The United Kingdom, Ghana, South Africa, China, Japan, Niger, Usa, Poland, Togo, Burkina Faso, India, Dubia, Singapore. This Highly Reputed Film And Video Broadcast Festival Attracts Entries From Over 50 Countries Worldwide With An Attendance Of Over 6,000 Participants From The Film, Tv And General Public.
The Abuja International Film And Video Festival Which Has Been Scheduled For The 4th To 7th Of October 2016 At The Prestigious Silverbird Galleria, Abuja.
The Opening Ceremony Shall Be A Cocktail Event At The Silverbird Galleria Abuja On Tuesday 4th October, 2010 At 6pm.
Over Films Will Be Screening At Multi Purpose Built Cinema Halls To Create The Cinematic Experience. At Last Count Over 300 Films Have Been Received From 41 Countries As The Deadline For Submission Approaches.

According To Temitope Duker, The Festival Entry Will Close On 31st Of July 2016. So Far The Influx Of Entries Have Been Encouraging. She also mentioned the inclusion of a new project called the Country Roundtable where Producers from different countries will pitch, discuss and network on collaborative projects.

The Festival Is Organized In Conjunction With The Federal Ministry Of Information And Communication, The National Film And Video Censors Board, The Nigerian Film Corporation, The Nigerian Copyright Commission And The Nigeria Television Authority.

As Part Of The Festival This Year This Year, Award Will Be Giving In 15 Competetive Categories With 5 Special Recognition Awards That Will Honor Excellence And Passion For The Creative Industry. Speaking Further Temitope Duker Promised That The List Of Those Individuals For The Special Recognition Award And Jury For 2016 Will Be Announced On 18th Of July 2016. .
We Are Continuing With Our Series On Youth Empowerment In Motion Picture Via The 20/20 Project Which Will Attract Students In The Universities Around Nigeria Attending Seminars And Workshops. They Will Also Be Made To Do Their Own Films. The Festival Has Concluded Arrangements With CANON To Run This Workshop In Cinematography, Photography And Editing Over One Week.

Screening At The Festival Will Be 60 Local And Foreign Films, 1 5 Of Such Films Are Feature, 5 In Animation, 15 Short Films, 5 Experimental Films, 10 Documentaries And 10 Student Films. Of The Above Mentioned Films, 35 Are In Competition At The Festival, Gunning For The 15 Different Award Categories.

topeTemitope  Duker

Reiterating, Temitope Duker Promised That The Festival Will Incorporate A Musical Angle As There Shall Be Musical Performances From Some Local And International Super Star Acts. Also The Regulars At The Festival Like The Presence Of Members Of The Diplomatic Missions In Nigeria, The Festival Exhibition Market Shall Attract Over 60 Local And International Exhibitors.

In conclusion Duker reaffimed the long running sustenabilty of the Abuja International Film Festival as it remains the Longest and most consistent Film Festival in Nigeria and Anglophonne west Africa, Insisting that other festivals came years after the establishment of the Abuja Film Festival in 2003. Promising an inspiring time for filmmakers and other participants this year.

Joe Ubaka film ‘Missing God’ won Best African Language Film in the last AMAA 2016

joe

Winning the Sembene Ousmane Best African Language Film in the last African Movie Academy Awards (Amaa 2016) was a great honor and gloriously amazing.

This is the greatest blessing I’ve received as a filmmaker because of the name tagged to the Award “Sembene Ousmane” the father of African Cinema, so to me a new mantle has been handed over to me, to continue in the stride of this great filmmaker.

I remember what Elijah told Elisha in the bible, that if you see me when I’m taking off, that you will receive the double portion of my anointing. So receiving this award is equally the double portion of Late Sembene’s filmmaking anointing.

For those of us who don’t know the man called Late Sembene Ousmane, he was a man with great track record in terms of cinematic achievements in Africa Cinema, he won several awards and the last I could remember was “Certain Regards” in Cannes film Festival 2004 with his last film titled: Moolaade and he lived a fulfilled life, died at the age of 92.

Late Sembene Ousmane was a man I respect so much from Senegal, though I’m a disciple of Jibril Diop Membety, another rebel filmmaker from Senegal, a friend of Martin Scorsese, another mentor.

“The Missing God” was nominated for best Igbo language movie at African Magic Viewers Choice Award [AMVCA 2016] and we’ve had the privilege of screening at Luxor African Film Festival Egypt, CAMIFF and Black Cinema of Berlin and to mention but a few.

This is not the first time my movie is winning an award, in 2009 I had the jury’s special mention prize for my film Trapped Dream during Cinema Africano De Verona Italy.

It’s my desire to get more accolades because that’s the only thing that will separate my art from the crowd, for many are called but few are chosen and I’ve always learnt to carve a niche for myself.

Finally I want to thank the Amaa Team, the Jury, most especially His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan for supporting the Nigeria movie industry through project Nollywood Act, where I got part of my funding for this film project “The Missing God” and to all my cast & crew for working tirelessly for the progress of this project and my humble wife for believing and supporting my filmmaking career.
DIRECTORS LETTER OF INTENT

MISSING GOD offers the viewer the possibility to reflect on injustice, accountability, faith and redemption. Our point of departure in the writing process was reality. For example, the story of colonialism and slave-trade that devastated Africa in the 18th centuries inspired the concept of Missing God.
As filmmakers, we are drawn to upheavals that strike the cords of global public debates on ethics and responsibility. MISSING GOD should evoke an inner dialogue and, ideally, leave an indelible mark of western imperialism etched on the soul of the viewer. Our Intention is not to illustrate the injustice done to us Africans during the era of colonialism and slave-trade but the power of African religion, culture and traditions.
In this project we firmly reject exoticism, which focuses on the differences between people and their cultures and which thrives on clichés and prejudices. We believe in a respectful dialogue between cultures, which is linked to an introspective dialogue with our respective pasts
Embarking on this film project is a form of reflection on what the western press or historians have reported or written about Africa.
I have always wished for that moment when we Africans will start telling our stories, because the western press has tampered with our history. In the course of my research for my documentary film project on the origin of the Igbos, I stumbled upon factual in-formations that contradicted that of the western press, so who do I believe, my people or the western press? Today so many of us are ignorant of this fact because not every-one of us has such privileged information.
Many negative things are often propagated by the Western press against Africa and remotely many Africans are made to believe that there’s nothing positive about them.
Hegel a great philosopher of the German Idealist tradition excludes the black as people with full consciousness and he concludes that Africans have no history because they lack full development of their consciousness and are ignorant of their freedom and as such have made no contribution to human development.
To a great extent, I believe that we Africans have not recovered from the devastating effects of slave trade and colonialism even to this present day, which was part of European cruelest legacy on the African continent that has contributed to our confused sense of identity.
Today in our various African societies, there’s this lingering inferiority complex among we Africans and there’s need to fight against it.

Our traditions and cultures are seen as barbaric and outdated because of what the colonialist taught us, with the believe that Africans will never get to the point of self-realization. And this has made us to seriously embrace the western culture to the detriment of cultural identity.
Africa is a beautiful continent filled with fascinating sights, sounds and cultures. Some of these have been lost or endangered as a result of the influx of the western culture. Presently, many Africans answer foreign names they do not know their meanings. For us Africans, names are a part of our identity. A name tells a lot about the person who bears it. This means that a name carries along side with it a personality, an identity and in fact, a destiny. This is why within the African society much care is taken in naming a child. Africans do not just name their children carelessly but take time to study the situation and prevailing circumstances of the time before they give a name to a child. There is the belief that names carry along with them the tendency of influencing the bearer to good or evil.
Africa of antiquity has been a centre of attraction for many. The great civilisations of the world began in Africa. This was the reason why ancient philosophers and scholars visited Africa to develop their philosophical doctrines. Izu Onyeocha writes that Africa was an intellectual Mecca to European scholars in antiquity.

As I conclude this reflection, let us remember that our past was indeed glorious. Missing God Film Project was born out of the desire to preserve the culture of our people, it is said that within the culture of a people, lies their identity, if we lose our culture we have lost our identity.
Some of the Africans in the Diaspora don’t know what the culture of their people is like but through this film project; they will be afforded the opportunity to know more about their culture and the untold story of western invasion across the Niger.

Africa is one of the continents with a very strong cultural heritage. And there is need for us to keep visual documentations of our traditional beliefs, culture and history for this present generation and generation to come since culture is considered as people way of life.

MISSING GOD is not a film about Colonialism and Slave-trade but a film about the core value of African Tradition, Culture and Religious belief. It is not the appropriation of exotic imagery packaged for consumption by another. It is, first and foremost, the result of a long journey inwards where we examined our presumptions and rummaged through our archives of experiences, all the while searching for revelations.

In conclusion, according to research, the best form of communicating tool is through film-making, which is a catalyst for positive change.

joe 1Joe Brown Ubaka