The Lagos Studies Association (LSA) has picked gifted filmmaker and founder of I Represent International Documentary Film Festival (iRep), Femi Odugbemi, to give the keynote address of the 7th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference.
The conference is slated for June 20 to 24 2023). Mr. Odugbemi’s Keynote is titled, “Authenticity and the African Story.”
According to a statement by the organisers, Odugbemi’s work epitomizes the finest in using the medium of film to challenge dominant representations and unveil neglected, yet crucial, aspects of everyday life on the African continent.
“His creative imprint shines through seven highly successful feature films, including the award-winning “Maroko: Futures Afloat,” three short films, and 24 TV dramas (Soaps and novellas), among others.
Over the years, he has worked consistently hard to pass his creative skills down to the younger generation. Between 2017 and 2021, he was the Director of the Multichoice Talent Factory (West Africa), an academy that attracts talented young Africans who receive top-notch practical and theoretical training in filmmaking from scholars and practitioners from across the world.
The creative energy deployed at the Academy extends the frontier of African storytelling, built around global standards in filmmaking, and studio and content development technology. Graduates of the Academy receive a certificate jointly issued by the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos.
Odugbemi has received numerous awards and accolades for his distinguished career. In 2022, he was elected member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, organizer of the New York-based International Emmy Awards and the International Emmy Kids Awards.
In 2020, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Nigeria Film Society. The award recognizes “excellence and immeasurable contributions towards the growth of the film industry.”
Odugbemi received a Bachelor’s in Film and Television Production from Montana State University in the United States in 1984. Subsequently, he took advanced training in filmmaking across the world. He worked for several government and private film production companies, including the Nigeria Television Authority.
He is co-founder and executive director of the iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, the Founder and CEO of ZURI24, and the Provost of the Orange Academy in Lagos.
Odugbemi has attended and supported every edition of the LSA Conference since 2017.
“Not only did he allow us to screen his award-winning documentary, “Makoko: Futures Afloat,” at LSA 2018, he participated in the lively discussion, moderated by LSA member Añulika Agina, that followed. At LSA 2019, he graciously read the citation of Jonathan Haynes, Nollywood pioneering scholar who won our Distinguished Scholar Award. At LSA 2022, Odugbemi screened his documentary, “Unmasking: Leadership, Trust and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria.” Led by LSA member Paul Ugor, the rich conversation that followed the screening gives critical meaning to the politics of controlling one of the biggest medical challenges of human history.
