The Hype: The Child

The delectable Wole Ojo won the fourth AMBO competition and so he gets to star in their latest movie - The Child. Apparently its a Benin based  epic starring  Joke Silva, Bukky Ajayi, Alex Osifo and as always directed by the fabulous Izu Ojukwu. 

 The Story:

Directed by Izu Ojukwu, ‘The Child’ revolves around a Benin town’s expectation of a ‘child’ promised the community by the gods. The advent of the child will see to the end of the town’s problems which include drought and recurrent war defeats, especially against the strong army of Ijogun.

Two children, at least as far as we can tell, are born on the said night; one is by the widowed queen Ifueko, played by Joke Silva, whose uncle the Iyase (Alex Usifo) is the regent. Another woman gives birth to a son. The rains return, wars are won and a basket mysteriously retains water after the boys are born. As long as the basket holds water, the community knows their special one is still alive. As both boys grow up, so does the competition between them as both are intent to prove their ‘childship,’ despite the fact that all have accepted the crown prince Nosa (or Omo as his mother calls him) as the special one (Edaeke).

Read more:

Cindy's Notes

Title : Cindy's Notes

Starring: Bhaira Mcwizu (ambo 3 winner),  Nonso Diobi, Clems Ohameze, kasimu Yero, Jennifer Ayomo

Story: Amaka Ezeala

Screenplay: Felix Odion

Producer: Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO)

Director:  Izu Ojukwu

Year: 2008

Country: Nigeria

Genre: Inspirational drama

Language: English


As anybody who reads this blog knows, I am a big fan of Izu Ojukwu - Amstel Malta collaboration. I have previously reviewed the first two movies in the partnership, namely Sitanda and White Waters.  For those unfamiliar with the Amstel Malta movie franchise, here is a quick overview - The amstel malta company sponsors a reality show every year to find new talent for the Nigerian movie industry. The winner gets to star in a movie directed by the tremendous Izu Ojukwu. Azizat Sadiq won the first edition and starred in the aforementioned  Sitanda, while O.C Ukeje won the second edition and was the star of white Waters. The third edition was won by  Bhaira Mcwizu and she is consequently the leading lady in Cindy's Notes. By Nigerian standards, Cindy's Notes is a tremendous movie!

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Genevieve Nnaji : Connecting the world on CNN (video and transcript)

Nigeria's foremost Nollywood Superstar, Genevieve Nnaji was recently interviewed on connect the world on CNN.  She was extremely well spoken, looking beautiful and classy. Wonderful representative of Nollywood! Excellent job! She was in London for the premier of Bursting out, and CNN took the opportunity to interview her. 


Continue........

The Hype: Bursting out

Hi peeps!
This movie was just recently premiered in London, and you can read some unbiased reports of that event here. After reading that, I am hyping this, though with some trepidation because the cinema goers did not appear to be that impressed with it. Nevertheless, it is a star studded affair - produced by Emem Isong, directed by Daniel Ademinokan and Desmond Elliot; and starring a list of who is who in Nollywood including Desmond Elliot, Genevieve Nnaji, Nse Ikpe Etim, Omoni Oboli, Susan Peters, Majid Michel and recent Big Brother Africa winner Uti Nwachukwu. With all those names, it better live up to the hype!

Synopsis and trailer when you continue.......

Short film: Grass between my lips

There was a whole period a couple of years ago when female genital mutilation was a hot topic so we had some attention in the media on the topic. Movies like Lost Maiden were made , a very good movie actually. Check it out if you have not. Around that time, this short film by Ghanaian filmaker Leila Djansi was released. While I had heard of Leila for reasons I will not go into here, I had never seen her work. Let me just say that I was blown away. She is making longer movies now, which I will definitely be talking about on this blog for sure - assuming she keeps up with this standard of filmmaking.

Just a little bit about the short:
Cast: Angela Sarfo Ababio, Ernest Adjey Doateng, Abi Adatsi, Nathaniel Banini and Emanual Armah.

Producer: Leila Djansi

You can check out the synopsis of the film on the website here. Apparently you can buy a dvd there too. Great stuff!
Alright, check out the movie itself:

Grass between My lips from filmmaker on Vimeo.

Excellent filmmaking no? Leila is also made "I sing of a well", which I hyped here but have not seen. I hope to see and review it before the end of the year.

I know that I will be featuring a lot of Leila's work here. I can smell high standards all over her output. Enjoy the short film.

The Hype: Black Gold

Apart from the fabulous Letters to a Stranger, I have not been too excited about movies produced or directed by any of the Amata brothers. Okay let me be specific - I hunted down Amazing Grace after all the hype, and one year later, I still have not gotten through it!! But it seems like they have been busy of late, so hopefully their story telling has improved.

I am hyping this because it tells a different story from the normal "marry love" Nollywood story, and the trailer is promising. I have my reservations about the storyline as it appears on the trailer, but I will hold my tongue until I can see it. The movie is entitled Black Gold, and actually stars some Hollywood heavyweights, including Billy Zane (Titanic), Hakeem Kae Kazim (Hotel Rwanda) as well as Sarah Wayne Callies(Prison break). Note that this is a different movie from Liquid Black Gold, a slightly above average movie starring Sam Dede on a very similar theme that was released in 2009 or late 2008 (its hard to tell, the jackets of Nigerian movies do not have dates for some reason!).

What is it about?

From award winning director, Jeta Amata, comes Black Gold, a powerful story of greed, murder and corruption in the murky waters of the volatile oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Black Gold is an epic film about environmental justice and the fight over the control of the scarce oil resources that the world runs on. The line between good and evil is blurred as corrupt government officials, greedy oil companies and violent rebels go on a war path over oil spills and degradation of the land caused by oil exploration. Starring Billy Zane, Mbong Amata, Hakeem Kae Kazim and Sarah Wayne Callies. Produced by Jeta Amata, Wilson Ebiye, Dede Mabiaku and Hakeem Kae Kazim. Original score and trailer by Joel Goffin.

Trailer below:



You can find a half finished website with some pics but no working links here. I hope there is a better website soon. I will update this link if I find one.

Looking forward to it.

Ciao.

Okay, now I am back to stay

I have not written much on this blog of recent for many reasons, mostly personal. Also as important, however is the fact that the quality of movies this year has been absolutely, unbelievably, atrociously bad. Incredible!! I have had no incentive to waste precious time or money on any of the crappy products that Nollywood has been churning out. While the crappy movies have been going straight to dvd, some of the better movies have been going to cinema. Majority of my postings in the foreseeable future will be focused on these better movies. I will also be going back to identify movies from the past that have not been covered here.

So folks, we will cover the past, and mostly the future, but not much of the present. Its too depressing!!

But I'm back y'all!