NOLLYWOOD (7)

Hottest Nollywood Twins Chidi & Chidi

Chidinma and Chidiebere Aneke are identical twins who started out as
ordinary girls in the movie industry. The sexy, and industrious sisters
have proved their mettle through determination and diligence. Over the
years, they have proven that hardwork pays and not fraternizing with
producers and directors make stars. Today, they can stand tall among
their peers and colleagues in the industry.

With theircreativity, they have also joined the league of movie producers and
production managers. Based in Enugu, where they are spreading their
tentacles in movie production amidst financial constraints, the
graduates of Mass Communication and Business Administration respectively
are owners of Greenville production company. They set up the company to
make their dreams a reality and to effectively manage their
investments. They told us recently about their new movie, how their
father’s death shaped their lives and their marriage plans. Excerpts:.

Aboutour new film ‘Ujuaku, the tigress’
The movie is about a man whomarried two wives, and was maltreating one of them because she didn’t
give him a male child. The second wife is wicked and heartless as she
tries to disrupt the peace at home. She hated the first wife with a
passion and turned her children against her and her husband as well. The
movie is an eye opener on polygamy and its attendant effects, it will
educate women on how to handle marital crisis without involving their
children because it could be disastrous. The movie is also about the
test of love because the polygamous man tested his wives to know who
loved him more.

The story line
The inspiration for the moviestemmed from various experiences of married women when there is crisis
in the home. A woman we know recently left her husband with her
children, which will in the long run have psychological effects on them.
A lot of women are not happy in their marriages and some of them even
die in the process.

Lessons for viewers
We wish to instructindividuals on the dangers of polygamy and stick to one man, one wife
rule. In addition, we hope to teach families how to wade through the
crisis of life with relative ease. Women in particular have to learn to
stick to their husbands no matter how bad the situation at home is, no
condition is permanent. The virtue of patience and endurance comes to
fore in Ujuaku the tigress.

Making impact with the movie inNigeria
Yes. Nigerians believe in what they see than what they hear.The movie addresses salient issues affecting families and individuals
making wrong choices, thereby educating them on being responsible for
their actions.

The cost of producing Ujuaku the tigress

Itcosts a lot but we will not reveal the exact amount because we have
sponsors. The cost of producing a movie is not a child’s play. We are
sure that we will reap our financial rewards despite the rate of piracy
in Nigeria.

Venturing into movie production
This is not thefirst movie we produced. We have been doing that, but we want to make
noise with this one because of its message. W

e will also marketit ourselves under our company Greenville Productions, unlike our
previous movies which we sold the right to marketers to market them for
us. We hope to meet and discuss issues with different marketers on
quantities they wish to distribute as well areas they wish to market
them.

Our Nollywood journey
We joined Nollywood in 2004.Since then, God has been faithful to us and we are doing well. We are
contented with the progress we have made so far, because a journey of a
thousand miles begins with a step. We may not be where we want to be,
but we will get there with God on our side. Life is a process and for
one to excel, that process has to be followed. We believe that patience,
hard work, tolerance, being yourself and having a friendly disposition
will help us get to the top.

Assessing Nollywood
It is acontinous journey in search of perfection. Nollywood is growing,
technically, and in terms of delivery by the actors and actresses.

MovingNollywood forward
Practitioners have to sit down and map outstrategies on how to improve the industry. The quality of movies have to
be more creative, original and impactful. There has to creative rivalry
which is healthy for the success of the industry. Seminars and
conferences where movie practitioners would be taught the rudiments of
film making as well as bringing in experts from developed countries to
rub minds with them on how to be the best movie makers in the world is
equally important.

Lack of moral values in youths
This can beattributed to the fall in the standard of family values. Parents have
failed in their duties to bring up their children properly thereby
giving rise to social vices and criminal tendencies. At times, parents
lie in the presence of their children and expect them to be truthful
always, it does not work that way. Children are taught by what they see
and not what they hear.

Parents no longer provide an atmosphereof dialogue or discussion with their kids, they are left on their own.
They have also failed in being role models for their children as they
are no longer the source of strength for them. Mothers especially are
guilty in discipliningtheir children whenever they go wrong, they wait
for their husbands to do that, it is wrong. Correct a child anytime it
is necessary and tell him or her why you are being strict.

Ourcareer dreams
There are many plans in the offing which will have tobe a secret for now so that it would remain original. When the time is
right, we will unveil them to Nigerians, we are just starting as movie
producers. We hope to achieve more in our acting and producing careers.
We have not arrived yet as this is a starting point for us.

Aboutus
Growing up, we were taught to be independent and that made usstrong and determined to take our destinies into our hands. We decided
not to look for white collar jobs, but work independently, that also
propelled us to go into acting. We studied Business Administration and
Mass Communications respectively so as to make a good team working
together as actresses and producers.

How we react to criticisms
Webelieve in constructive and not destructive criticisms. Our movies are
first criticized by our friends because we give room for improvement in
everything we do. We are always happy to be corrected but not in a
damaging way. We love criticisms.

Childhood memories
It wassweet and wonderful because our father loved us to bits. He would always
take us to the market to buy clothes and insists on getting the same
clothes and designs for us. If for any reason we don’t get the same
clothes, we leave the market and return another day.

We alsoplayed a lot of pranks with him because he couldn’t differentiate us
until he died. After his death, a lot happened that left us bankrupt .
We started afresh in life to the extent that we started hawking akara
and bread, pure water and mango. We were happy doing that because we
knew that it won’t last as no condition is permanent and because we know
that our future is bright.

On marriage
We want to getmarried same day. We would like to marry twin brothers but God
determines what is best for us because His ways are higher than our
ways.

Our love lives
We do not wish to discuss that but weare happy. We love life and what it offers but our love life remains
private.

Future plans
We wish to have 2 sets of twins of twoboys and two girls. To have happy homes and live happily with our
husbands.
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Around and about Nollywood...

NFC extends closing date for annual essay competitionTHE closing date for the 2009/2010 edition of the Nigerian Film Corporation essay competition has been extended. Earlier scheduled to close on May 27, the new date is June 27. In a statement, the corporation said the reason for the extension is to enable more people to send in their entry. Topic for the essay is Building a Positive Global Brand: The Place of Film. Interested Nigerians, who must be 18 years and above, can now submit their entries, which must be between 8 to10 pages in the Times Roman format. All entries according to the statement should be forwarded to the Headquarters of the Nigerian Film Corporation, 218T, Liberty Dam Road, Jos, Plateau State or email to: md_nfc@hotmail.com. The first, second and third winners of the competition will receive their cash prizes of N100, 000, N75, 000 and N50, 000 respectively, along with certificates at the 2010 edition of ZUMA Film Festival, holding in Abuja.AGN votes for HiTV Koko MansionTHE Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has endorsed the Koko Mansion reality show programme packaged by HiTV, Nigeria. The guild, through its president, Ejike Asiegbu, has described Koko Mansion’s objectives as being genuine and realistic, saying, “many young, eligible Nigerian men are finding the task of getting a good wife difficult, but with the programme, it will be a thing of the past as it would expose what most people are exactly looking for in most women. Though, it is not a 100 per cent chance, it is the beginning of a solution to a problem and I must commend the company and all those involved for this initiative.” The AGN president also assured of the body’s support stating that the AGN will support any initiative that will impact on the society. Some of the virtues the viewers who would be the ultimate judge in the show would be looking out for are: the ability of the Kokolette to cook sumptious meals for D’banj and his friends, especially during impromptu visits, and her ability to furnish and maintain the mansion. The Kokolette must also be industrious while being able to take care of the home front; her ability to be respectful and courteous at all times would be put to test. The potential wife must be able to emulate notable women in society even as she shows the ability to impress D’banj, under all circumstances in order to win the public’s votes to be in the house among others. A video audition would help the panel determine the 12 finalists. There will be no evictions in the first week because the ladies would have to socialise and familiarise themselves with living in a mansion. However, eviction starts in the second week, where two ladies with the least number of votes from the viewers will be ushered out. There will be weekly evictions from then on until the final three ladies emerge. Eviction is primarily done by the public and could be based on D’banj’s comments. However, each week, among the three ladies up for eviction, it would be D’Banj’s prerogative to give Koko Mycine (immunity) to one of the girls. He can only use Koko Mycine once in the duration of the show. The statement revealed that the winner would among other benefits, be crowned Kokolette 1, get a Chris Aires Diamond ring, a brand new convertible car, feature in his next music video You Don Make Me Fall In Love alongside N5 million in cash. Aside that, the winner will be D’Banj’s companion at public events both within and outside Nigeria. She would further emerge as HiTV’s Hi-Babe. Asides from exploring her talent professionally, she’ll be obligated to get involved in women empowering projects that would reinforce the unique role of an African woman in the development of our society.Distribution framework is on the upswingFILMMAKER and marketing consultant, Yinka Ogundaisi, has disclosed last week that things will definitely start looking up for the new distribution framework of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). Sounding very optimistic Ogundaisi, informed that in a few weeks time that Nollywood ‘would feel the impact of the new distribution framework’. Ogundaisi, who may be waiting to release his feature film, Omoge, under the framework expressed optimism that the partnership between the NFVCB and the Lagos State government will clear the streets of hawkers and restrict movie retailing to only licensed retailers and for specific territories. He said: “Producers will therefore know the authorized retailers of their works and the authorised area of retailing.” By implication, he continued, “producers would also know areas not selling their movies and decide on what to do.” He also hinted that all movies would henceforth be released with official tags to easily identify pirated copies. “Distributors are not allowed to sell more copies than the number of tags bought,” he said, adding, “producers can now check with the board on the quantities of tags bought by distributors of their works.” According to him, all these will undoubtedly improve the financial profiles of productions and make quality works worthwhile. Another heartwarming information the actor gave was that which provides banking support for the funding of the distribution of approved movies to all registered and licensed national and regional distributors. “We will now know authorised retailers through their official signpost-licensed by the Censors Board or outlet of licensed National or Regional Distributor.” Although Ogundaisi hinted earlier that a bank was expected to endorse the initiative, the filmmaker sent words back to say that that aspect should be ignored, as discussions are still ongoing on the involvement of the bank ‘with known presence in the industry’.WAKA PASSProducer- Amebo A. AmeboDirector- Mr. GossipActors- Nollywood CelebritiesRemi Abiola is in the USCALLS to her phones won’t get through and so we asked how we could get in touch with Remi Abiola, the actress and one of the wives of the late politician, businessman and pillar of sports in Africa, Bashorun M.K.O Abiola, and no one was ready to volunteer any information. It took a discussion with a ‘been to’ on the problem of administering a will left behind by Abiola for this waka pass, who just returned from the United States to link our innocent discussion with the actress who was popular for playing a nursing sister on the long rested television soap Memorial Hospital. Anyway, the waka pass said, he was told by someone who is still close to someone, who is close to the actress and mother that she decided on starting life almost afresh when it became obvious that it was going to take a long while to get what is due her from her marriage to the presumed winner of the June 12 election. Those who said they have encountered her say she is doing one or two jobs in the US, which is related to the role she played in Memorial Hospital, to make ends meet. We actually no mind how related the work be, so far na work. Abi?Lepa Sandy was trendyONE thing that stands popular actress, Shade Omoniyi Kazeem ( aka Lepa Sandy), out in a crowd is her good sense of dressing. So, when she stepped into the Cinema Hall 2 of the National Theatre last Monday for the 52nd birthday anniversary presentation of Professor Ahmed Yerima’s new book Discourse on Tragedy all eyes looked towards her. Her brown designers gown sat on her lepaciously figure with her shoe and beads worn to match making a lot of people to conclude that Oga Kazeem — Lepa’s hubby — is doing a good job on her. And some ladies in the Yoruba movie industry have sworn to make their husbands to emulate Mr. Kazeem. Their names? No bi for my mouth you go hear sey goat get teeth…but we go mention am if people dare me. I swear.Foluke Daramola owns upTHOSE who counseled the cute actress, Foluke Daramola (Yes, Shobowale until she tells us otherwise) before she married the son of a one-time Commissioner for Education in Lagos State did a good job on her. We are sure she was warned that until the pain compares to the type that women go through in the labour ward she should not discuss her marriage on the pages of the newspaper. Well, even when the pain compared to it, she still kept mum and endured until the pain compared to a woman expecting quadruplets. The long and short is that Foluke confirmed to a national daily last weekend that she was no longer living under the same roof with her husband whose fathers influence dragged former Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu to their lavish wedding. Those who know book say what this means in proper saying is that Folake has announced her separation from her husband. But her fans have cautioned that people should not jump at singing the popular gospel song ‘it shall be permanent’. They hold as some waka pass do that what ‘two children has joined together, no pain can put asunder’. We concur! True.Help, Oge Okoye was too moodyWE were not sure what the matter was, but the Oge Okoye we ran into on Saturday at the departure lounge of the Muritala Mohammed International Airport was not the same all time cheerful Oge we used to know. With her hands wrapped around her chest level, he starred pensively at a lady who looked like a maid and a fellow that looks like her hubby, who was busy playing with Oge’s child. True, her face that evening was like the face of one in a moody condition because she was going to miss something. Anyway it was from how sister Oge dressense changed in our estimation that made us to agree that there is something marriage does to people. Sister Oge who has been missing in action for some time now, wore a long flowing gown on a white trouser with shoes to match. The Oge we knew before she downloaded would be in one skimpy dress and will be chewing gum from post to post. True, e get as marriage dey do people….Lillian Bach flies Business classTHE number of Nollywood celebrities that fly business or first class whether in or out of Nigeria has increased by one as Lillian Bach enters the league. Dis is not a matter of dem say. Waka pass saw the mulatto actress koro koro on the business side of an international flight that connects you to anywhere in the world from Paris. We didn’t know whether it was because she placed our face and so wanted to avoid the ‘eyerazzi’ (since we didn’t carry our camera on board to do the paparazi), the gangling actress who reportedly dated popular actor Pat Attah kept a straight face as though someone was going to ask her to lap him on her seat. Anyway we don’t know whether it was because she was on her way abroad where whatever you wear is counted as fashion, one other waka pass didn’t think Lilian observed convention — which is ‘to match’ when she wore black shoes on blue jeans, on a brown jacket and blue top. On top of that she was carrying a pink and yellow hand luggage. We consulted another waka pass and she agree say dis don remove from the realm of fashion to the realm of colour jam colour. In other words na colour mega jam madam take sit down for business class.
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Indian and Nigerian governments have concluded plans to host a joint film festival for Bollywood and Nollywood to commemorate the 60th and 50th independence anniversaries of both countries respectively.The festival, which is scheduled to take place in Nigeria by January 2010, is expected to serve as a vehicle for strengthening the cultural and economic ties that have existed between the two countries over the years.Everyone knows Jim Iyke as the bad boy of Nollywood but will he also be known as the bad boy in the music industry too?“I like to stir up things a little bit so that’s what I will be doing in the music scene but the album has a little piece of something for everyone”, Jim Iyke said.“This album was a big challenge to me. Millions of naira has gone into this project. I have always been a disciple of hiphop and R&B music. I could have been an armed robber (God forbid as he giggled over it) but I chose music.”, Jim continued.The event started with a brief press conference at the Silver Bird Media Stores with Jim telling his Ghanaian fans about the birth of the “Who Am I” album.Then it was followed up with a video interview of Jim Iyke on the giant screens and short performances from Slow Dog, Puffy T, Rocky and the headline artiste, Jim Iyke himself at the Silver bird cinemas. Then back to the Silver Bird Media Store for autograph sign sessions with his fans. View photos of Jim Iyke in GhanaJim Iyke and his music entourage had to troop to TV Africa’s Sound Splash in the night to dish out some of songs to the packed fans at the TV Africa premises.The launch went on well but just a few technical problems with the sound and mic hindered the program.
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Spike lee the Black American Movie maker of such movies as the popular do the right thing,Malcom X etc Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival WhereNigerian film makers have been lambasted for allegedly plagiarizing creative works from other lands even as they are advised to attend international film festivals if they must make films of international standards.advertisement 9jabook.com 9jamovies.com are the hottest sites in naija right nowAmazing selected articles & Videos.Great music! and best of ALL YOU GET FREE ADVERTISING ! wow !join now !Respected American film maker and prolific advertising director, Spike Lee, punctured Nigerian film makers, saying they bootlegged a lot of his films. Lee told at a press conference in Cannes International Advertising Festival that Nigera made huge films but regretted that a lot of plagiarism went on in Nigeria without any check.Responding to a question by this reporter on how Nigerian film makers could improve on their creating, Lee fired back:"You are from Nigeria, Lagos? Those people are bootlegging my films a lot. Let them attend international film festival like the ones held in Cannes and other places to learn how to make great films that would be of international standard.In a press conference to announce winners of the MOFILM UGC (User Generated Content) Competition, Lee, who was the competition’s jury chairman, said with the explosion of digital devices youths with creative talents would tell a great story using the new technological devices. He said with User-Generated Content, there was little limit to what youths of these days could do using digital devices.He said a lot of talents abound not only in America and Europe but all over the world. He stated that the era when people went to school to learn film making was fast being replaced by people simply deploying the digital devices with their talents to tell great stories in digital devices."You don’t have to call your God to help you get a job. You can tell great stories using these hand-held devices. And to do this creativity is very key. It is a very special thing that empowers you to tell great stories."Another important tool necessary to tell stories is the skill of story writing. In his words "You don’t have to go to school to be a good film maker. You have to work on developing your talent. You have to work on your writing skills or find someone who can write for you. Writing is key to film making. Whether it’s a piece of music, novel, play or commercial, you must learn how to write."The MOFILM competition brought together a powerhouse set of 12 brands which consisted of AT&T, Best Buy, PepsiCo, Hewlett Packard, Kodak, Renaissance Hotel, Nokia, Philips, Telstra, Unilever (Omo), Visa and Vodafone. Each brand posted a brief on the MOFILM website, which allowed entrants from all over the world upload their films and compete for the awards and prizes. Each brand selected their favorite video, which went to compete for the grand prize on set with Spike Lee.At the end of the highly competitive outing, Hiroki Ono, 23-year-old Japanese won the gold prize with $12, 000,000 cash award along with Nokia’s top prize of having his winning video "Feel the Globe" embedded into more than 10 million handsets and the opportunity to be on set with Spike Lee on his next project.Winning the silver medal was an Indian from California, the United States, Mr. Mahesh Pailor, with is video "Ordinary Creative Guy" for Best Buy, a story about his father. He received $6,000 cash with Best Buy’s top prize of $10,000 gift card.The bronze medal went to California’s Jeff Jill with his video "Larry Had the Internet" for AT&T. He received $3,000 cash along with AT&T’s top prize of $2,000 and tickets to American Idol finale.Mr. Lee commented, "I really have enjoyed the MOFILM competition. Any medium that allows creative talent to come to the fore gives them the platform to showcase their gifts, which is gratifying to me. User-Generated Content has to be a good thing for both film and advertising industries."All the winners expressed satisfaction for the opportunity to be showcased at the Cannes festival, saying they were spurred to develop their talents even further.
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Zambezia from Triggerfish Animation on Vimeo.

While Nollywood can boast the largest output of films (albeit on video) after Bollywood, it seems South Africa is making serious money-making strides of more universal appeal. Whilst browsing the Screen Africa website I came across a recruitment ad placed this week for a wide variety of positions available due to the expansion of the team behind the production of Zambezia, “a pioneering CG animation feature to be produced in Africa.”Intrigued, my mind went to the only other animation film from Africa I could think of, a 1977 Nigerian film (pre-Nollywood) called Bisi, Daughter of The River co-directed by Jab Adu and Ladi Ladebo. If memory serves me correctly, it was actually live action combined with animation and, while I have lingering images of a young woman (played by British-Nigerian actress, Patti Boulaye) wading into a river in the ethereal surroundings of animated landscape and creatures, I’ve tried, and failed, over the years, to find out what became of that film as I only ever saw clips/trailers of it on Nigerian television in the 70s – no doubt part of the promotions for FESTAC ‘77 (the 2nd World Black & African Festival of Arts & Culture).According to Mohamed Ghazala of the Fine Arts Faculty, Minia University, Egypt, African animation started about 70 years ago in Egypt and was founded by the Frenkel brothers who were not professional artists or animators, but Jewish carpenters who immigrated to Egypt from Russia in search of freedom and work and achieved the unexpected; the first African animated cartoon throughout Africa.Ghazala, in his blog post, The History of African Animation, writes that the hero of the 10 minute film, In Vain (Mafish fayda), was Mish Mish Effendi, who, he says, was the prototype of Disney’s well-known Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately this film was lost when Cairo burned in 1951. However, The Frenkel brothers’ second film, National Defense, is still preserved.Currently, African animation only exists in Egypt and South Africa, with about 50 animation studios producing animation commercially for Egypt and other African and Middle Eastern countries.So, back to Zambezia which, sure enough, is from a South African animation studio, Triggerfish. According to a September ‘08 article in Screen Daily, Cinema Management Group (CMG) president, Edward Noeltner, picked up international rights for the 3D animated feature ahead of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.According to the Screen Daily article:“This an exciting and visually exhilarating story with wonderful moral values which, much like Disney’s Lion King, will appeal to audiences of all ages in every corner of the globe,” Noeltner said. “We are very excited to be offering Zambezia for the very first time in Toronto where we have footage from the film to screen along with a full plate of new projects to offer.”And from the blurb on CMG’s website:On the edge of an enormous waterfall, in the heart of Africa, lies the bird city of Zambezia. Famous for its impregnable defenses against egg predators, it has become the breeding sanctuary for birds from throughout the river valley. With half of its massive Baobab shell gone, Zambezia City is the ultimate tree house, humming with birds on every level, from its roots at the base, to the platforms high in the leafy tops.Aero, a young Taita Falcon from a remote outpost, is the protagonist of the story. He dreams of flying on the prestigious River Watch. When Aero’s father is captured by the treacherous Marabous, he is forced to abandon his outpost and flee to Zambezia. However, Aero soon finds himself at the centre of a deadly plot concocted by the Marabous – who have joined forces with giant, egg-eating lizards – to overthrow Zambezia and return things back to “every bird for himself”. If Aero is to save Zambezia, he will have to learn that not all battles are won with fast and fancy flying.Set in the spectacular Zambezi River Valley, the film draws on this unique natural environment as its inspiration – an inspiration which can be seen in the beautiful, quintessentially African elements of the film.But it would seem that CMG (who also hold the international sales rights to the recent dramatic feature, African Violet) also snapped up another Triggerfish project because they also own rights to Khumba, “the story of a half-striped zebra, born into an insular, isolated herd obsessed with stripes. Rumors that the strange foal is cursed spread and, before long, he is blamed for the drought that sets in. When his father, the leader of the herd, blames him for the lack of rain and the subsequent death of his mother, the outcast zebra leaves the confines of his home knowing that he cannot survive in the herd without all his stripes.” Both Zambezia and Khumba are due for release in 2011.Another South African animation, which is slated for international release this year, is Kalahari, the story of Crash, a cheetah who is the fastest cat in Africa, but who has the inability to corner. When his mother is lost in a brush fire, he is adopted by a family of meerkats who try to teach him how to be a cheetah, and help him find his “chee” (inner spirit) in order to corner. According to Wikipedia, “Hollywood producer Laszlo Bene assembled the film’s crew, which fully comprises personnel from the local entertainment industry. The film’s $23 million budget was financed by offshore funds and Johannesburg investors. Its production details were kept secret during its development, which took place throughout most of 2006.”Kalahari is reported be released in the United States by a major distribution company and will be South Africa’s second animated film after the 2007 film Tengers, a full-length claymation satirical black comedy about life in post-Apartheid South Africa.Maybe it’s because most of the animators, from the Frenkel brothers to the Triggerfish team, aren’t indigenous Africans but, apart from Bisi, Daughter of the River and Tengers, animals seem to feature predominantly in most of these films, seemingly raising the profile of Africa for international audiences without actually featuring indigenous African people. To be fair, Triggerfish’s 2009 show reel does have several black characters featured, but I’m guessing these are for local South African TV consumption, and that they’re going with the Lion King and Madagascar -type models where it would seem that epic or romanticised visions of Africa are considered more palatable to mainstream international audiences when presented with adorable four-legged or winged creatures. Given their varied stock of characters, I wonder if Triggerfish will one day break that mold and give international audiences some loveable, entertaining African characters that are actually human… or maybe even be beaten to it by one of the other 49 African animation studios!Zambezia Trailer
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As Nollywood continues to rise in popularity, Hollywood might just begin to see Nigeria as the perfect background for its movies. Why not? A city like Lagos has all the scenic drama you would need for the perfect action scene. Variety Magazine announced this week that Ben Stiller will be directing a new movie based on a Chicago banker who gets swindled in a Nigerian scam. While the project is meant to be entertaining, it also sheds light on current issues in Nigeria and other African countries. The film is going to be produced by Participant Media (The Soloist) whose mandate to make films that compel social change.At the premiere of X-Men the wolverine last weekend, many Nigerians were proud to see that one of the beginning scenes was set in Lagos. There was even a man speaking Igbo! The aerial view was definitely Lagos and some even think that the action shot that featured a Nigerian diamond dealer took place in the UBA building. However, most of the shots were probably in a studio.Normal 0 false false false.It looks like Nollywood might also be able to compete with “Tinsel Town’ some day. UNESCO announced that the Nigerian film industry has overtaken Hollywood and closed the gap on India in the number of movies produced each year. So, what are your thoughts on Hollywood films and TV shows that reference Nigeria and how accurate are they? Here are a few below but I’m probably missing a lot.

Bruce Willis plays a Special-Ops commander who leads his team into a jungle in Nigeria to rescue a doctor played by Monica Belluci who will only go with them if they agree to rescue 70 refugees too.

SaharaMatthew McConaughey is cast as explorer Dirk Pitt who goes on the adventure of a lifetime of seeking out a lost Civil War battleship known as the “Ship of Death” in the deserts of West Africa while helping a UN doctor being hounded by a ruthless dictator.

Phat GirlzMonique plays a plus-size woman trying to find a place in the skin-and-bones world of high fashion by launching her own line of clothes for large ladies. While on vacation, she meets Tunde (Jimmy Jean-Louis), a handsome and successful doctor from Nigeria, and she discovers to her surprise that Tunde is strongly attracted to her.AddendumI just had to write this note after hearing the opinions of our readers thus far. I definitely agree that we have seen too much from the media about the negatives like the scam industry and not enough positive news. Just wanted to note that the producers of the movie have stated that the movie will highlight issues in the country that influence the scam industry.The purpose of film is to showcase reality, provoke thought, invoke emotion and hopefully bring about change. The “419″ scam is one that is very real in our society and stains our public image. This movie or any type like it is not what is destroying our image. Unfortunately, thanks to a few bad apples, all “The West” has to do is look at their inbox and fax machine to be presented with a negative view of Nigeria. Hopefully through a movie like this we can talk about the real reason why corruption and scams like “419″ exists.I also agree that “The West” needs to look internally instead of pointing the finger at us. From the corporate greed in Wall Street that caused the global financial crisis, to Bernie Madoff and other Ponzi schemes, 419 exists in everyone’s backyard. While we shouldn’t rely on Hollywood to be the ones to highlight our issues, culture and identity. We need to understand that to change perceptions we do have to be in the broad public dialogue.The one thing that makes me nervous is that the there isn’t a single Nigerian on the executive production team. Either way, as someone who doesn’t have the luxury of being in my country every day. It’s still pretty cool to once in a while see Nigeria or Nigerians referencd in a movie or TV show, unfortunately that comes with bad plot lines and inaccurate scenery. Thanks guys for the comments and please keep them coming!Note (3:15pm) Synopsis of Tears of the Sun movie changed to “jungle in Nigeria”. Thanks for catching that rizzle we definitely dont want the world to think all of Nigeria is a jungle
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