By Yinka Akanbi
Three of Nollywood’s rising stars – Tobi Bakre, Ini-Abasi Jeffrey and Linda Leila Diatta – have been selected as part of 2024 Berlinale Talents.
An important part of the annual Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale Talents is scheduled to hold from February 17 to 22, 2024 in Berlin.
Bakre, Jeffrey and Diatta are part of the 11 Africans selected in the long list of eligible candidates.
Announcing the 202 selected filmmakers from 68 countries on Tuesday, the organisers said via a press release: “All 202 Talents (116 female, 76 male, 10 diverse) work in the disciplines of acting, cinematography, directing, film distribution, film journalism, production, set and digital set design, screenwriting, sound design, score composition, film editing, world sales and audience design (meaning curators and cinema owners).”
The selected talents will be exposed to the Berlin film industry and its audience through numerous talks, workshops and public discussions
Since leaving the Big Brother Naija reality TV show, Bakre has become known for his compelling bad-boy roles in Brotherhood, Gangs Of Lagos and most recently Slum King.
The other African talents selected are Slim Baccar (Tunisia), Niza Jay (South Africa), Wangechi Ngugi (Kenya), Maisha Maene (DR Congo), Aline Amike (Rwandan-born selected for Germany), Chloé Ortolé (Senegal), Advik Beni (South Africa), Morad Mostafa (Egypt), and Fatima Wardy (Sudanese born selected from the US).