Following the success of the Nollywood Travel Film Festival in Athens, the Greek capital in 2022, the vibrant and iconic city is again set to host Africa’s foremost travel film festival, where Nollywood films are screened to people from other races, cultures, and backgrounds.
In a press release made available to TCN, this year’s edition will hold between May 7 and 14, 2023, with the theme; ‘The Future is Nollywood.’
According to the organisers, Nollywood Travel Film Festival is a unique vision “strategically geared towards promoting films by Nigerians living across the globe to new and existing global audiences to create new marketplaces for Nigerian cinema.”
In a conversation with festival founder, Mykel Parish, Boston University reportedly opined that Nollywood is one of the fastest-growing film industries in the world. With a vast global audience within the Black diaspora, it is challenging the traditional mega film industries of Hollywood and Bollywood. After creating the tagline, “Made by Africans, watched by the world,” Netflix has invested more than 40 million dollars to stream two categories on its platform: Made by Africa and Nollywood Movies and TV.
The statement quoted Her Excellency, Opunimi Akinkugbe, Nigerian ambassador to Greece, of saying that, “We are very pleased that the conversations between the Greek and Nigerian film industry are deepening, and we look forward to the 2023 edition of the Nollywood Travel Film Festival, following last year’s huge success. We thank Mr. Parish for his efforts to connect the two film industries. Promoting cultural exchanges between Nigerians and Greeks remains a priority for our mission.”
Ambassador Ioannis Plotas, Greek Ambassador to Nigeria, has also commended Mr. Parish for his efforts in improving the cultural relationship between the two countries.
“I will like to praise you for this kind of initiative, and we reassure you that the embassy will always be here to help, to give a boost not only to our country but in general to strengthen our bilateral relations. The essential ingredient for that is the cultural ties between our countries. Thank you for taking the Nollywood Travel Film Festival to Greece.”
NTTF has been held in cities such as Atlanta, Hamburg, London, Berlin, New York, Glasgow, Helsinki, Oslo, Toronto, and Dublin.
The Athens edition has the partnership of the Hellenic Film Commission, the Greek Film Commission, Harlem Entertainment, Lagom pasta, Blankpage Advertising, Showtime Productions, Directors Guild of Nigeria, and Association of Movie Producers, with support from the Embassy of Nigeria in Greece, and the Greek Embassy in Nigeria.