By David Ajiboye

Malawian top actress, Flora Suya, is a top contender in this year’s Best Actress category at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), scheduled to take place on Saturday,  April 10, in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. Suya’s role in the movie, Season of a Life, earned her the nomination, alongside other A-list actresses like Ghanaian Jackie Appiah, Lydia Forson, Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku, Stephanie Okereke and Bimbo Akintola, who just got her first nomination at AMAA for her excellent performance in the movie Bond and Fred Amata’s Freedom in Chain.

The chairman of College of Screeners, Mr. Shuaib Hussein said that Flora Suya might be the revelation AMAA has thrown up this year, adding that the award was fulfilling its mission and set objectives, as other African countries were coming out strongly in the business of film making.
“Flora Suya’s role in Season of a Life is superlative.  She is a complete talent that will go places in her acting career.  It is also a wake up call and challenge for our top actors and actresses to up their games. Nominations for awards anywhere in the world is a function of quality of work, professionalism and not whether anybody is an A-list star or not,” said Hussein.

Hussein also said the entries received from  North African countries, with Algeria and Egypt as strong contenders in the Best Animation category continued to attest to the popularity and acceptability of AMAA as the most respected recognition platform for the film industry in Africa.
Kunle Afolayan’s Figurine and Izu Chukwu’s Nnenda and The Child,  were among 30 films that made the nominations for this year’s African Movie Academy Awards, out of the over 280 entries received across Africa.

At a colorful nominations party held at Mensvic Hotel, East Legion, Accra, Ghana last Saturday, the nominations were announced by Hussein, chairman of College of Screeners.

In the Best Actor’s category are Ramsey Nouah, Lucky Ejim, Majid Michael, Odera Ozoka and John Osie Tutu, for their roles in The Tenant, Sin of a Soul, The Figurine, Soul Diaspora and I Sing of a Well.

Kunle Afolayan, Shemu Joyah, Shirley Frimpong, Leilla Jewel Djansi, Jude Idada and Lucky Ejim will slug it out in the Best Director category.  At the star-studded nominations party in Ghana included Mr. Richard Mofe-Damijo, Delta State Commissioner for Tourism and Culture; Rita Dominic, Segun Arinze, Osita Iheme, Paul Obazele, Ejike Asiegbu, Dickson Iruegbu, Kunle Afolayan, Steve Ayorinde, Muma Gee, J. Martins, among others.

Mr. Emeka Mba,Director General Nigeria Films and Video Censors Board(NFVCB) delivering his address at the African Film/Television Programmes Expo held in Abuja.

Some dignitaries rendering the national anthem at the event

Nollywood Actor,Francids Duru making a remark at the event.

Oba Dosumu,the traditional ruler of Owu Kingdom presenting an award to top Nollywood producer.

More pix from the Event

More pix from the event.

More pix from the event

More pix from the event

By Ali Baylay

An Annex Merchandise Productions Film; Starring: St. Obi, Stephnie Okereke, Ifeoma Anyiam, Steve Eboh, Andy Chukwu,Uche Elendu, Cynthia Okereke, Chikezie Uwaizi, Esther Aikpokpoje, Nnamdi Eze; Story: Nwafor Anayo; Screenplay: Chuks Obiara; Editor: Iyke Okafor;  Production manager: Chie Jina Ephraim O; Executive  Producers: Nwafor Anayo; Producer: Nwafor Anayo; Director: Andy Chukwu. 108 Mins.  C 2006

Kevin, “you know what? You’re stupid….” (?), “I don’t mind calling me stupid, but to call my wife….” Kevin, “Nancy is not your wife and never will be…Well, we’ll see who gets hurt.”

 Such is the heated confrontation this Nollywood piece presents for our viewing pleasure. And as a friend of Kevin could comment, “This is getting messy.” It rightly gets messy: one suitor of Nancy on his way to the alter gets kidnapped, another lover who offers Kevin millions of Nairas to give up his incessant desire for Nancy, is swept away by a gang of kidnappers before his traditional wedding ceremony with her could start. Ones Kevin knows he’s not going to get Nancy anymore he declares an all out war on her piece of mind, and it is a stand off after another, though Nancy couldn’t yield.  

 Woman On Top is a sour romance flick. It is the type that goes sour for everyone connected to the lovers: Nancy’s mother, her friends and Kevin’s friend. Kevin (St Obi) is a well-to-do businessman who falls in love with single mother’s daughter, Nancy (Stphnie Okereke). He assumes he’s on top of her love because he showers her with money. Nancy uses this head over heels type of fall to her advantage by pilfering money from Kevin in return for no love. Lies after lies and deceptions after deceptions on Nancy’s part the relationship continues.

 But when Nancy finally decides to break off from Kevin, and just when Nancy is about to get wed to another man, the man gets kidnapped. Nancy goes into hiding but is dug up by Kevin. Kevin falls under suspicion for the disappearance of Nancy’s groom, but soon released for lack of substance. The stand off between Kevin and Nancy continues and gets to a boiling point after Nancy discloses to Kevin that she’s not in love and has never been, and will never be in love with him. Nancy’s new boyfriend and would be husband approaches Kevin for a deal: Kevin should take so much nairas for all his troubles and expenses on Nancy. Now, Kevin feels really insulted. Shortly before Nancy could be traditionally betrothed, her fiancé gets kidnapped again.

 I must give it straight to the screenwriter of this movie for his laconic and taut conversational dialogue, that didn’t waste on anything trivial. Every delivery is appropriately used and used economically for the screen. There’s enough tension and conflict that keeps the plot moving enough to keep viewers eye glued to the screen. Character development is one way of rounding up a screenplay to the point of resolution. We see Kevin’s character, the principal player in this movie come full circle. At first he’s a well dressed successful businessman but as the movie and tension progresses he’s become much more a hudlum, and a creepy one at that,  than the gentleman we meet at the beginning of the story.

 Woman On Top is a remarkable ‘woman’s film’. Just as the name itself (on top) signifies, it is an African woman’s empowerment  movie. It is about time Nollywood recognizes the role of women in our films as not subservient to men but can as well stand up to their male counterparts in many aspects and get away with it. African culture and films have portrayed women as merely housewives, secretaries or other menial services in society. What Woman On Top does is to present to us a liberated fearless woman who can have her cake and eat it too.

By Ali Baylay

The last time I was ridiculed, confused, and puzzled by a literary genre was when I read Wole Soyinka’s Interpreters. I read it twice with no success at understanding the novel, until an O’level class friend of mine recommended Fourah Bay College Edred Jones’ treatise, Interpreters Interpreted. Even at that, I can’t hardly have intelligent discourse on the Interpreters. In all my movie reviewing experience, Wicked Intentions baffles me the same way Interpreters does, though in the case of Wicked Intentions, the problem doesn’t come from literary ingenuity as with Soyinke’s Interpreters, a sage from the class of the likes of James Joyce, than from pure editorial oversight. Wicked Intentions is narrated mostly in flashback mode. I guess.

The movie starts with a playerlike character, Jim (Desmond Elliot), who brings girls after girls to his shag (breakheart mansion), his palour, the likes of a nouveau-riche, and creates steaming love scenes with them. He makes them believe he’s all they dream about in relationship, only to discard them the next day like a penny with a hole in it. Jim’s quest is to win over a love partner with just enough money and beauty as not to intimidate him. He runs into Charlene (Stephanie Okereke). She kisses men and leave them crying. Charlene has similar characteristics to that of Jim. Like two liars, their relationship thrives on deceptions, false promises, and hopes. I guess.

On the other hand, Charlene’s bed-ridden dad fakes heart attacks to snare her into marrying a Chubby fellow of her distaste. The chubby fellow tries couple of attempts to win over this miss-hard-to-get, but instead gets splashed in his face with a bucket full of water. Relentless though, he hired two guys who kill Jim on their wedding day even as Charlene escapes town before she says, “I do”. I guess.

Charlene explains the entire story to Kamsi  (Nadia Buari) from her POV,  by way of giving her reason why she Charlene couldn’t accept Chris (Smith Asante) in marriage even as he placards banner of love on the wall for her. A writer once said, “Stephanie has an infecteous smile, and get to talk to her, she’ll treat you like an old acquaintance”. Since her Nollywood debute in Compromise 2 in 1997, Stephanie has always brightened Nollywood screen in most of her movies. Wicked Intentions is one of those movies she performs her flawless acts. With no sweat, Steph could easily be a Hollywood material.