.. as Afolayan dazzles at Citation’s after-party screening
Eyimofe’s lead actress, Temi Ami-Williams, made history on Friday after becoming the first Nigerian in recent years to win a prize at the Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou (FESPACO) which came to an end on Friday.
The actress is believed to have broken a jinx as this is the first time a Nigerian film will win a prize at the individual category of the prestigious festival in its 52-year history.
Nigeria’s Newton Aduaka won the Yennenga d’ Talon, the festival’s biggest prize for ‘Ezra’ in 2007 even though the child soldiers-themed film was registered as an European Co-production by a Nigerian-born director.
FESPACO is known to have always been pro-Francophone African cinema.
FilmPreneur and former President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Madu Chikwendu, who was a member of the five-man international jury received the Cfa 1m prize on Ami-Williams’ behalf.
In a related development, famed filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan’s award-winning feature film, ‘Citation’, also screened at this year’s edition of the film festival.
In celebration of Citation’s screening, Afolayan hosted a party which had festival delegates, sone members of the Jury of African Movie Acadeny Awards (AMAA) and members of his KAP-Hub team in attendance.
Afolayan used the occasion to introduce delegates to his newly-opened Kap-Hub in Lagos as well as the partnership with Mastercard Foundation to train 300,000 Nigerian youths under its Young Africa Works initiative.
FESPACO is arguable West Africa’s biggest film festival holding in Burkina Faso, biennially in the capital city of Ouagadougou, where the organization is based.
It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and is chiefly produced in Africa.
