Oris Aigbokhaevbolo
@Catchoris
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Co-founder @Efikomag -AFRIMA 2015 Winner - @IDFA 2023 Jury Member - @GoldenGlobes '24 & '25 Voter -Writer ( @thefilm_verdict , @Guardian )
Lagos, Nigeria
Joined September 2011
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All this Chidi Mokeme in
#ShantyTown
talk just means you people did not watch him in '76, one of the very best films ever made by both Old and New Nollywood.
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Last night, Olamide showed why he might be Naija's favourite record label head.
The man stopped his own performance to promote Fireboy's new album,
#LTG
and give us an insight into the politics of Nigerian music.
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One of the least discussed results of Japa: seeing very successful people with two very Nigerian names described as "Ireland's own", "Canada's own", etc. And they'll be right.
More to come.
Congratulations to Ireland's own Ayo Edebiri for her nomination for the 2024 BAFTA Rising Star Award 🇮🇪
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We haven't praised The Trade enough, so here's a mature thing it does: It avoids Nollywood's love for amateurish fight scenes.
There are no kung fu or kung foo-lish fight scenes; there're no fight scenes even. Just solid suspense, believable Naija violence, and a cracking story!
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1.
For years, Nollywood people called me a hater for writing that their poor films are poor films. Then when they got the chance to review themselves, via the Oscars and the NOSC, they themselves said their films are poor. LOL. LOOL. So you people knew since?
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1. The first year the AMVCA decides that a jury chooses most of the big awards, Funke Akindele’s blockbuster film leaves the ceremony empty-handed. Something in Nollywood has been altered.
#AMVCA10
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The new Glamour Girls, now showing on Netflix, is not a remake. It is an accident.
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Well, the unexpected has happened. Wizkid invites Davido to perform FIA at
#WizkidTheConcert
.
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Beast of No Nation plays and my guy makes a point: Fela Kuti is too great to be compared to Wizkid, Burna & others:
"Fela was contributing to the same arguments Wole Soyinka & Chinua Achebe were making."
Today: Wizkid, Burna Boy, Naira Marley etc can't touch Chimamanda's garment.
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See what I just found. America's paper of record says Tems is "R&B's golden child".
1. Tems needs to share her juju
2. How often does a non-American get on the front page of the New York Times for a 1st album?
3. Note that it's R&B not Afrobeats. Dem don dey erase una genre
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Lol @ the noise concerning
#TheViper
. Anyone who's listened to Nigerian hip hop over the years could have told you only two rappers have a chance stepping to MI Abaga. One shares MI's last name; the other's name has a number. The End.
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We should appreciate what Nollywood sees in Kelechi Udegbe.
Industry players have always rated him high. But 2023 is his year:
He's the only actor linking Nigeria's best-received art-house film, Mami Wata, to Nollywood's super-commercial Netflix project, The Black Book. Range.
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1.
Months back, I sang the praise of
a particular trifecta of movies. And a certain Nollywood director responded indirectly, implying that those films were good because big budgets.
Well, I've just seen Yahoo+. Low budget but vastly superior to a lot of big budget Nollywood.
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The nature of New Nollywood stardom suggests that none of the (younger) actors in ATCJ contributed box office numbers of high significance to its 1bn naira revenue.
Like Funke Akindele, like Marvel: put anyone in costume, in those roles, it'll work. Funke is the sole superhero.
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Wow! Pop the champagne (or Alomo). A Nigerian film has won the Grand Jury Prize for Short Films at
#Sundance2021
.
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A good writer is someone who makes the reader grateful for her own literacy.
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Sometime last year, a small film festival in the US invited me to join its jury. Then, weeks ago, its owner sent me a message: Long story short, I received a form to apply to become an international voter for the 2024 Golden Globes Awards. The "provisional" results are out...
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Briefly: I wrote about Bobrisky and the Problem with Beverly Naya / Daniel Effiong’s documentary, Skin.
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"Fela's sons, Femi and Seun Kuti, were more faithful to Afrobeat's militant spirit. But it was Lagbaja’s comic offerings that kept the genre alive in the minds of a young generation of music enthusiasts."
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If there was an Oscar for trailers, they'll have to give it to the opening shot of this trailer.
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1/2.
Every year, there's a "Cyprian Ekwensi is Underrated" post. So let me explain how it works:
Cyprian Ekwensi: Almighty storyteller, mediocre writer.
Achebe: Great storyteller, great writer.
Soyinka: Good storyteller, Almighty writer.
It's a simplification but that's it.
cyprian ekwensi is by far one of the best fiction writers to have walked the earth. that man was a storyteller through & through. but his books weren't protest literature like achebe's or soyinka's, so he didn't get as much accolade. his works are even rarely studied in unis.
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1.
Oyinbo awards like the Grammys and Oscars are super-political. You have to play the game if you want to win. If you are American, you will play it, if you are European, you will play it. But some Nigerians think that they are exempt from playing. Bros, you must.
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I'm sure Nollywood has grown up enough to understand that we can celebrate this massive success of The Black Book on Netflix while noting key issues:
Spotty writing
Derivative plot
Subpar choreography
Jumbled denouement.
There's a big lesson for Nollywood, too: Be ambitious.
Nigerian action thriller "The Black Book," about corruption and police brutality in Africa’s most populous country, has reached record viewership on Netflix, via AP
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When it's time to write the history of the
#EndSARS
protests, it would be especially good to know the name of the guy holding that flag and the name of the photographer.
This revolution will be documented.
#SarsMustEnd
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2. The changes to the judging format has given a chance to films like Over the Bridge, Mami Wata, even Breath of Life.
Almost none of these films would have stood a chance if they'd allowed the unfortunately undereducated Nigerian audience to choose certain winners.
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Now that I've seen the winning films and the selection at Cannes, I can say definitively that the problem with Nollywood is screenwriting.
There's nothing in Anora and others that our good camera guys can't work out. But the writing generally is light years behind in Nollywood.
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On radio, I was asked why Biodun Stephen doesn't get lots of awards love. This is the answer:
Awards are like venture capital in tech: they reward scale.
A very small well-done film will get snubbed for a big failed experiment. It's why Anikulapo cleans out and Sista struggles.
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7. The AMVCA has never really wanted to be the Serious Nigerian Film award. It was really just an advert for a business.
But as a new decade beckons, it seems determined to live up to the image Nollywood has built up for it.
Last night, it had its best outing since forever. 🙌🏽
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According to footage from LCC, uniformed men arrived at the Lekki toll gate at 6.41pm on October 20. CNN said the shootings began at 6.43pm.
Given those times and that CNN hadn't seen the LCC video, it's going to be very hard to disprove that viral report. (1)
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2.
Nigerians should never have heard about the Grammys and the Oscars. Suddenly, everybody thinks their fave should win one or 43. Someone said that if La La Land won at the Oscars, then Anikulapo should win. As a person with a Pharmacy degree, that is clinical insanity.
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"He’s lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bullshit." - Rob Reiner
Well, I hope Chris changes his mind and gets Uncle Will Smith in some trouble with the law.
via
@thr
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3b.
This shows that that we have a disease and the disease is foolish mediocrity. The only cure is oyinbo because there is nothing that the Oscars & Netflix are insisting on that I haven't written about in the 10 years since I showed up to review you people's poor films.
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There's something Genevieve Nnaji is looking for in the films she's making.
As I've seen them all, I'm convinced she hasn't found that thing, that extra thing that unites her popular actress side with her global respect ambitions.
She won't find it without a big adjustment.
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Chief Daddy 1 and 2. The first one was a comedy. Part 2 was a horror.
Has a movie ever had a sequel in a different genre than the original? E.g: a rom-com original followed by a horror sequel set in the same world with the same concept.
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I wish this hilarious headline was an uncommon mistake but it isn't. There are more popular sins of punctuation in Nigeria. And, let's face it, commas can be tricky.
So how do you fix it?
Let's see if I can answer that using a short thread...
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1. This Ricky Gervais monologue is so evil. And funny.
2. It is why the Oscars would never ever touch him. Look what happened when they gave that gig to Seth MacFarlane.
3. If this happened in thin-skin ville aka Nollywood, he'd be in jail by morning.
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I hope Nollywood (and Nigeria) understands what an achievement this is. CJ Obasi has done what nobody else based in Naija has been able to do. Sure, there's time & chance but there is also genius and genuine foresight. Congratulations, bros!
#Sundance2023
MAMI WATA World premiere is at
#Sundance
2023!
To my team. I love you all so much. You already know. Together, we made a film that is nothing, but a pure and uninhibited expression of love for film and for dark bodies. Afrikan cinema will live forever! Thank you so much.
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With the exception of a few young men, filmmaking ambition in Nollywood is driven entirely by women:
Kemi Adetiba gave us our 1st Modern Gangster Epic Blockbuster Cinema is written in Mo Abudu's name
Ema Edosio made an Inner-city Marvel
and now
Jade Osiberu has given us Action
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I know everybody is crazy for Chidi Mokeme in Shanty Town. Me, too, I join dem crase--but if I am on any jury for an award that somehow combines series and movies, I'll be very tempted to vote Blossom Chukwujekwu as Best Actor. He's too good in a film that is itself too good.
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Not surprising people are shocked at the last scene of Oloture. For too long Nigerian films have coddled & pampered audiences. A harsh country has refused to acknowledge its difficulties through its films. No more.
Our gifted directors are telling the truth about where we live.
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Just give Declan Rice the Arsenal jersey next season. Make the outfit complete.
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7.
Which brings me to the second film, Blood Covenant. This film deserves more love and I hope that it gets a surfeit of love whenever it turns up on a streaming platform. I like how it complicates a basic "ritual-to-riches" storyline with friendship. Such a great premise!
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We make noise about unbelievably liquid tech bros & The Black Book. But the film has some of Nollywood's masters, all of whom should get heavier praise:
1. Yinka "The Master" Edward—cinematography
2. Kulanen Ikyo—sound
3. Pat Nebo's—production design
4. Alex Usifo Omiagbo—acting
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Shout out to Africa Magic and DSTV. For organising a film award and being magnanimous enough to allow a rival streaming platform emerge its big winner.
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I used to say that if older Nigerian writers behaved like the Binj did in dealing with up-and-coming ones, a significant number of our problems would be reduced. May the man's incredibly generous spirit rest in peace.
#BinyavangaWainaina
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3.
For years, Nigerian filmmakers and their audience said that quality didn't matter insofar as the stories were watched by thousands. Now that the Oscars is on the horizon and big American players like Netflix and Amazon are here, we are talking quality.
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Do you recall the controversy around casting Olanna in Half of a Yellow Sun in 2013?
Apparently, Chimamanda Adichie gave her blessings. But look how the actress Thandie Newton came to see the problem.
How many of Nollywood's lightskinned actresses have conceded their privilege?
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7b.
This behaviour is typical of so many Nigerian filmmakers. They don't bother to know what excellence looks like in the space they admire but they want to win.
Look, sometimes, you don't need to know anything about your field to be great but I can assure you that it helps.
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I've been critical about Burna Boy's politics in the past. But this interview in the New York Times is interesting and makes me think two related thoughts.
#FollowTheThread
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A remake would be nice but they'll ruin it. The small town sensibility that made these films believable is (almost) entirely absent in New Nollywood.
One of the scariest movies back then, not for the faint hearted 💀☠️
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A picture speaks 1000 words. This photo speaks 3 things young Nigerians need:
1. Reform the entire police force
2. End SARS (and its werey-dey-disguise sibling, SWAT)
3. Uphold Nigeria
Bonus: Use a face mask.
#EndSARS
#EndSWAT
#SWATMUSTEND
#EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria
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The irony here is that back when Otosirieze Obi-Young was deputy editor, the only platform you were likely to read a detailed account of these takes and opinions on this El-Rufai scandal and his sack was Brittle Paper.
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There's only one rule for serious African Writers: Find an oyinbo publisher asap if you want to survive. The ABC of this rule:
A for Achebe
B for Ben Okri
C for Chimamanda
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For the second and half time in 2020, I'm intrigued to have an old piece from over a year ago get new attention.
I've said that a big part of my work as a writer is documenting and analysing the present. I hope the value becomes increasingly obvious. 1/2
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1.
A few words on The House of Secrets now showing on Amazon Prime...
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A few years ago, as Music in Africa editor, I wrote a harsh but honest review of a Femi Kuti song.
I was invited to the Shrine later and have written about that in my book. For now, let's just say I left thinking that Femi must have had it very rough as the son of Fela.
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Wishing alte is more talented than Nigeria's mainstream. To make up for these articles. It isn't. It's as average as regular Naija pop. Sometimes less.
There's maybe two super-talents there. Tay Iwar is one. Everything else is averageness & privilege.
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3. This, of course, means that the AMVCA is finally becoming an award that cinephiles might take seriously. It's only taken 10 editions.
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There's a "Nigerian" film at Sundance set in Nigeria by a "Nigerian" director. Has an interesting synopsis and a reptilian title.
#Sundance2021
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If Blaqbones dredged up this response on the spot, he wouldn't be just the best rapper in Africa. He'd be Shakespeare.
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4.
Once again, I have a solution. But once again, Nollywood will wait for oyinbo to force them to do it. The solution is this: a big name producer needs to get one of our handful directing talents to make a film. You command resources; he/she works the artistic side.
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48 hours is good enough to honour the massive work that went into promoting the new Burna Boy album,
#TWICEASTALL
. So join me by 12.40pm today as I do a thread on it.
I don't like track by track reviews but it's the form most suited for Twitter. So let's get it!
#FollowtheThread
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All I know: Lagos gives you a thousand stories but takes away the time needed to write them.
Do writers often experience a creative crisis after moving from one city to another? Is that a thing? I think place is an underappreciated part of our process.
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10.
I'll review the two big films in that list of three and write a long (semi-investigative) report on the issues bedeviling that selection committee as stated by Nollywood players, all of whom will be anonymous. This week or next.
END.
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Shame. 10 years later, Nigeria’s cinemas are working same tricks.
In 2014/15, I went to see Confusion Na Wa by Kenneth Gyang. They said it wasn't showing but couldn’t explain why, even as it was on the schedule. Same thing is happening in 2023. Crazy!
A very shady thing is happening with
#MamiWataMovie
showtimes and I am usually calm but not this time.
There is only screen showing the movie in the whole of Abuja. We got there this evening and they said there are technical issues so they can’t show it.
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It's my birthday today. I'm accepting cakes and best wishes.
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1.
Sometime in 2015 or 2014, I was in the Netherlands attending the International Film Festival Rotterdam. As usual with these popular film festivals showing films from everywhere, films from African filmmakers are mostly not engaged with as much as with their western peers.
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The London Review of Books has published my short nonfiction on the lockdown in Lagos on its blog. I've read and loved the LRB for a long long time, so I'm super-glad!
(You'll be able to read a longer, different version in my book.)
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7.
A filmmaker was saying to me that he'd win the Best Picture Oscar in 5 years. I asked if he had seen five films that have won Best Picture and he couldn't say for sure. Meanwhile, there is a video of Rafael Nadal on YouTube naming the 25 winners of the ATP year-end masters.
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1.
Nollywood films that get on Netflix immediately take all of the attention online. But there are two Nollywood films released this year that deserve a reasonable level of attention, given their quality in certain departments.
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Nollywood really wanted to kill us in those days sha. 😭🤣🤣
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5. In a year with films by Kunle Afolayan, Femi Adebayo, and Funke Akindele, BB Sasore and Breath of Life swept the awards.
If this patttern had shown up earlier, maybe the AMVCA could have helped more viewers find a certain type of film. Better late than never, I guess.
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"The similarity is the seriousness of politics of This Is America and
#ThisIsNigeria
. The difference is Falz permits mediocrity; Childish Gambino aimed for excellence."
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This video of Italian mayors is hilarious. But I have been thinking about just how caring these officials are. You have to care to be so angry.
Meanwhile in Naija...has anyone seen their local government chairman or bigman politician put up posters?
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6b.
Whether it is from Bible, Koran, the Ifa Corpus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, a 1960s comic book, a Soyinka play, or an Adichie novel, if the film doesn't (re)present its story well, the film has failed. Dear Nollywood filmmakers, there is something called artistic license. Use it.
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For all of the bashing Nollywood gets, 2022 has been a fantastic year for our film industry. Box office records were made, Netflix projects got better, Showmax is currently running an impressive series, some stars were born, and a few talented filmmakers got deserved attention.
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"That no one speaks of Cyprian Ekwensi as the father of Nigerian literature is perhaps due to the undisguisedly didactic and moralizing character of the stories he told."
Hmmm. 🤔 One has to wonder what Ekwensi felt about Achebe's acclaim.
via
@nybooks
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6.
Because of our tribal/religious affiliations and a belief that supporting a group is more important than objectivity, some have said a film is great just becos it's based on an ancient manuscript. I hate to break it to you: the origin of a thing is different from its quality.
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Please join
@Otosirieze
and I on Instagram Live tomorrow. 7pm.
Our IG handles:
@Otosirieze
and
@catchorisgram
.
Let's talk about
#Writing
in
#Nigeria
across several fields.
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I was toasting one girl back then.
She was troubling my heart too much but she no wan gree, so one night I texted her, "Do I have to fall sleep with roses in my hand?"
I woke to a reply: "Stop sending me weird messages."
Lesson: John Mayer lines no dey work for Naija babes.
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1. Asake is proof that you should pray for the twins, Time & Chance, to favour you above all.
2. As an artist, Olamide made bigger hits singing in Yoruba but he couldn't score even 1 crossover single in his heyday.
3. Fortunately, Asake is his artist.
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I promised an essay on Burna Boy, sex and 'On the Low' at the start of last year.
I'm sorry I decided to keep the essay for a book that is a collection of essays. As written by Oris about books and Nigerian pop culture over the last decade.
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2023 is shaping up to be an interesting year for Naija filmmakers in global festivals. Tunde Apalowo's "All the Colours..." is showing at the Berlinale.
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8.
And if you are one of those people saying that we shouldn't care about these global awards, please shut the door behind you and your local champion mediocrity--although we can't even be sure of the champion part.
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5.
You need a great script. I can't think of one screenwriter who will give Nollywood something great without supervision, so, once again, you need a director who has seen and/or read many great films/scripts. Actually, my recommendation is that you get a writer-director.
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A Nigerian got an award at the documentary pitching session in Amsterdam yesterday. Take a bow,
@OsakpolorOmo
. Looking forward to the documentary.
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On the last day of 2017, my landlady & my pharmacist & my mum & my younger siblings & the Hubmart cashier & my favourite bartender had a meeting. They said they'll no longer accept Exposure. Their memo had three words: ORIS PAY CASH.
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We need strong institutions in Nigerian politics. We also need strong institutions in Nigerian culture. Perhaps above all, we need institutional memory. What did our founding fathers say? What did our culture creators say in the 1970s? What did our commentators and critics say?
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This announcement takes
@ErnestOgunyemi
to the top of your list of African literary critics/commentators. He named the story that ought to win in a super super-analysis of the 2023 Caine shortlist. He's still an undergrad!
Read his brilliant essay here:
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About a week ago I was in the south of France for the Cannes Film Festival. In January, I was in the US for Sundance.
The Guardian UK [
@guardian
] has published some of my thoughts on a pattern across both festivals & others—as concerning African films.
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If someone had told you that the coronavirus pandemic was going to unravel high-level greed, secrets, and mischief in Nigerian politics, literature, entertainment, healthcare, media, finance, security, and God knows what else soon, would you have believed?
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In non
#Grammys
news, you should see La Femme Anjola when it comes out on 19 March.
Remarkable casting, directing, and cinematography. One small step for a filmmaker; a leap for Nollywood.
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Burna Boy is 1 step ahead. When his peers were seeking African domination, he went for the Grammy.
Now that everybody is looking for "Best African" at the Grammys, the man is sitting solo in a category created for mainstream American rappers.
I respect this level of ambition.
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4b.
For DP, this producer should get our cinematographers who have had international training or demonstrate a non-conventional eye for images. In my mind, there is only one such person in Nollywood, so I understand going abroad.
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5c.
The point is a director who knows what is required cannot leave certain things to others. You must get your hands dirty in Nollywood. You could say same for producers but Nollywood producers are unfortunately more likely to ruin artistic vision for a myopic financial gains.
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Your dad's a hero! Last year, I met a guy in Brussels whose idea of Nigeria is centred on our '94 team.
He said he loved the Super Eagles and because I was "tall like Yekini", he gave me a discount to see the Atomium & an exhibition at the design museum.
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