Obasanjo Endorses Military Thriller…Goes To Toronto Film Festival

With the latest nod from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a central figure in the events depicted in the movie ‘76, Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports on the increasing acceptance of the revolutionary film

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has joined other critical stakeholders like the Nigerian Army to support the innovative military thriller which depict events that took place when he was military Head of State in 1976 following the assassination of Gen. Murtala Mohammed.

At a private screening for the former president at his Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Adonis Production team led by Co-Executive Producer, Tonye Princewill received a pat on the back. Describing the film as “a mixture of sweet and sorrow”, Obasanjo commended the team saying; “It will make us remind ourselves not to go back to the dark days, which put us in go-no-go situation. We might not yet have lived up to our best, but we have lived through our worst.”

He added: “We can have more of this, as there are more national issues that can be portrayed. We are capable of the best and that is what this film has shown,” he said.
The Co-Executive Producer of the film, Prince Tonye Princewill, who led a delegation of the cast and crew including Rita Dominic, Izu Ojukwu and Chidi Mokeme, responded saying the cast and crew of ‘76 were on tour of the country to seek support and stakeholder endorsement for the film, billed to premier in cinemas in November.

“The youth of today need to have a sense of the past, we have no sense of history, hence the resolve to have the film ‘76”, he said.
Princewill said the visit to Obasanjo was important, “considering his position at that time in the country. He was there in the front row. We deemed it wise to come and show him the film and curry his esteemed endorsement, which as you can see we have just got.”

Hours after the former President gave his nod, the landmark cinematic production hit another milestone by being the first all-Nigerian made in Nigeria movie chosen to have its own world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film has also received scheduled dates for the London International Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival among others in circuit of international release.

The film will have its specially laid out red carpet premiere on at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Canada. The event promises to be a truly unique and momentous occasion. All the key cast, crew and many special guests are all committed to walking the red carpet and this has been made possible by its Canadian media partners.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the most recognized film festivals in the world and a very important partner in facilitating the rise of emerging Oscar contenders. As a key precursor in the awards race, all eyes will be on TIFF’s full line up, which often hosts high-profile premieres of Oscar-bound movies.

Chameleon Makes Impressive Gain in Cinemas

The well-acclaimed film, ‘Chameleon’, produced and written, by Nigerian film maker who lives in Luxembourg is currently showing in cinemas across Nigeria.
Danisa told journalists at a recent meeting in Lagos that after two years of shooting the film in Luxembourg, ‘Chameleon’ is doing well in cinemas in Nigeria.

According to him, the film was shot at various locations in Lagos, Calabar and different cities in Luxembourg, Paris, Brussels. He explained that the film can be used as a political tool in a developmental way to help the Nigerian oil sector.

“Chameleon” tells the story of two antagonistic and ruthless characters, one originating from Luxembourg and the other, a Nigerian spy, on an important mission. Lucio won’t be prevented from achieving his strategic business goals in Africa. How does this relate to Muda’s mission in Europe? Muda is not exactly the person he was initially presented as. He is in search of something else. What? Why is he in Europe, and what brings him to Luxembourg? These are some of the questions the movie seeks to provide answers to.

The movie, according to Danisa, who worked as an investigative journalist on the Energy Desk of a major Nigerian newspaper which enabled him travel far into the creeks while working on some oil and gas stories, his first ever movie is on his investigations on the stealing of Nigerian crude oil in exchange for weapons. He said the movie is borne out of the need to expose the illegalities and criminal activities of a ruthless network of individuals spread across different continents. He had at different times worked on the Foreign and Business desks.

“Chameleon” stars David Ivan Danisa, who also doubled as the writer and producer, Michael Fourage, Carlos Ferreira, Juliana Alves Rosa, Yolanda Trono and Mendaly Ries amongst several others.

Shot in different countries and cities that include Nigeria, Germany Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris, “Chameleon” tells the story of two antagonistic and ruthless characters, one originating from Luxembourg and the other, a Nigerian spy, on an important mission to save his country’s oil industry.

On his preparedness to expectations from cabals, who might find the movie offensive, Danisa dropped, “Not at all, I don’t think the movie should offend anyone, however, what I have done is to re-awake our collective aspirations as a people on the parts of the people, the citizens, the governments and agencies responsible. I am like a wizard. I do something independently on my environment and then I see interrelationship days later and it becomes a national issue.

When I started writing this story, it was not so big an issue in Nigeria. Sometimes you think you are working independently and not being influenced by the variables in the environment but subconsciously. Perhaps that’s just it, this is a big issue now and our existence as a country is being threatened by it.”

Chameleon was shot in different countries and cities that include Nigeria (Lagos and Calabar), Germany, Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris. Chameleon stars David Ivan Danisa, who also doubled as the writer and producer, Michael Fourage, Carlos Ferreira, Juliana Alves Rosa, Yolanda Trono and Mendaly Ries among several other international actors.

JUDITH AUDU EXCITED AT TIFF NOMINATION
Actor, Judith Audu is excited for the nomination of her maiden feature production, ‘Just Not Married’ as one of the eight from Nigeria that will be screened to global audiences at the world-acclaimed Toronto International Film Festival holding in Toronto, Canada.

The list of films selected for the festival include: ‘76 (directed by Izu Ojukwu), 93 Days (Steve Gukas), The Wedding Party (Kemi Adetiba), The Arbitration ( Niyi Akinmolayan), Taxi Driver ( Daniel T. Oriahi), Okafor’s Law (Omoni Oboli), Just Not Married (Uduak-Obong Patrick), and Green White Green (directed by Abbah T. Makama

While congratulating filmmakers whose productions have been selected for the festival, Audu, who is producer of Just Not Married, thanked God, the cast and crew as well as fans for the huge success that the film. She expressed the believe that it is the beginning of greater heights for Nollywood

Just Not Married is directed by Uduak Obong Patrick with Asurf Oluseyi as Assistant Director. It is written by Lami Aisida and has Fayo Festus as Director of Photography.
The movie, which features Stan Nze, Rotimi Salami, Ijeoma Agu, Obutu Roland, Gregory Ojefua, Judith Audu, Perpetua Adefemi, and Brutus Richard among others.

OMONI OBOLI AND OKAFOR’S LAW

Award winning Nollywood Actress and Producer Omoni Oboli was very emotional as she took out time to specially thank the cast and crew of her yet-to-be-released movie Okafor’s Law. The movie which has just been nominated at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is enjoying positive ratings all over.

Omoni Oboli is no doubt the woman-of-the-moment owing to the fact that she is the only female actress in Nigeria to have had three blockbuster movies to her credit; Being Mrs Elliot, The First Lady and Wives on Strike.

The trained digital filmmaker at the New York Film Academy has been a very consistent face in the industry little wonder why her previous movie
Wives on Strike raked in over 71m Naira at the cinema becoming the third
highest grossing Nollywood movie of all time.

Speaking on the recent nomination for the Toronto International Film
Festival, the graduate of Foreign Languages from the University of Benin said ‘’It can only be God! I want to thank God for this window of opportunity. It shows hard work really pays and there is no alternative to
hard work other than more work. When I got back into the industry in 2009, I am happy people welcomed me with open hands’’.

She went on to thank the cast and crew of Okafor’s Law and she could not hold back tears in her eyes as she said ‘’ I will also like to say a huge thank you to the cast and crew of Okafor’s Law, words fail me in this moment, I appreciate you all for making time out of your busy schedule to be on the set of this movie. If I have another chance to do this again, I will certainly do it again with this cast. God bless you all!

The movie features Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ufuoma McDermott, Tina Mba, Halima Abubakar, Yvonne Jegede, Ken Erics, Mary Lazarus Yinka Edward, Pat Nebo, Gabriel Afolayan, Betty Irabor, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Uche Nnaji, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Omoni Oboli herself and a host of others.

MORE LADIES JOIN THE DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH INITIATIVE
More young and less privileged ladies have so far joined the ‘’Diamond in
The Rough’’ initiative established by Adejoke Adegun the CEO of Xqwizit, a
former banker who quit banking to give succour and hope to the young
ladies with no support systems whatsoever.

The “Diamond in The Rough” initiative focuses on ladies between the ages
of 18 and 26, at least 5”7 tall, size 6 – 10 and have model-like features.
It is a project aimed at discovering the ‘Diamonds in the Rough’.

She is asking the general public to nominate anyone in their area who can benefit from this project. Anybody currently going through rough times but has hidden beauty and can excel as a model and also in the fashion industry.

Over 120 ladies from different communities have so have been nominated for this noble initiative and registration is still on going. From the pool of ladies who have so far registered, 30 will be shortlisted in the coming days and out of this, 10 would make the final cut.

WHY CDQ CHOSE MASTERKRAFT AS PRODUCER
At a time when artistes are finding it hard to stay glued to a particular record label for long, indigenous rapper CDQ is swearing loyalty to his producer co-owned record label, General Records.

Masterkraft and CDQ’s relationship dates back few years ago. They met when CDQ was almost at the edge of giving up his indigenous rap style because nobody believed in his style of rapping. However, everything changed when he met Mr Capable, Banky W. It was Banky W who made him believe in his style of music again. By the time CDQ visited Masterkraft at Kennis Music and freestyled for him, they got on together like a house on fire.
At a recent interaction with the media to announce the release of his upcoming album ‘Quality’, he pledged his unflinching loyalty to the ace producer who signed him on his label three years ago.
“Masterkraft is one genius out of Africa. Our relationship is going to last as long as I’m doing music. I see producers everyday but I’m not easily swayed. Masterkraft is a real and straight-forward person.”

The much-anticipated album will be released tomorrow and features most of his popular tracks such as ‘Olowo’ ft Reminisce. According to the Economics graduate:
“The album is a reflection of my journey in music over the years and also of my stage name CDQ which means Quality music.”

The 17-track album also features collaborations with Wizkid, Olamide, Davido, Reminisce, Banky W, Ice Prince, Skales, and Vector
Born Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf, CDQ is nominated in the ‘Best Rap Act’ category in the upcoming Nigerian Entertainment Awards.

SIMI GOES ON A SAFARI IN “OUTTA MY HEAD”
The promotional video of her second single of the year ‘Outta my head’ once again proves the creativity of Afro pop singer Simi. Already garnering massive views on Youtube, the video visuals depict a safari in Johannesburg, South Africa, where it was filmed.
The natural countryside complete with wild animals, rocky mountains and a sturdy Jeep to navigate the terrain added to the romantic setting of the video. Directed by Josh Clarke, images of Simi and Praiz, are interspersed with clips of two lovers acting out a romantic script.

Outta My Head samples piano strings and a mid-tempo beat, and perfectly accompanied by Simi’s now familiar vocal stylings. It is a playful yet serious meditation on infatuation and the downsides of a love gone sour. Written in a smooth, simple style that is instantly relatable, Simi narrates a tale of being hung up on a lover who has caused her some pain in the past. She then queries repeatedly on the chorus, Wetin you dey do for my head? as this same lover invades her space, mind and dreams.

The material could easily become moody and haunting but Simi sells it and makes it more digestible, thanks to her bubbly personality and infectious delivery.
Outta My Head is produced by the brilliant Oscar Heman-Ackah. Label mate Praiz brings along his smooth baritone and easy charm. Both singers make for a sizzling pair and their union elevates Outta My Head beyond the routine pedestrian fare.

BONKWE HINTS ON NEW MUSIC.
The Kashmire Records artiste hints on working on a new single recently. The hit is said to be a follow-up on his first official single ‘Na You I go Marry’ and will feature an A-list artiste who is very prominent in Nigeria and South Africa.
The hit will be his first major collabo. Bonkwe revealed earlier that he had no intention to collaborate until he has at least, release two singles.
Inspired by the dynamic P-Square, the graduate of Insurance from Imo State University is also a songwriter. He composed his first single and is poised to take the entertainment industry by storm.

D.I DROPS NEW AFRO-POP SINGLE
The South-African based music sensation, D.i is releasing his latest Afro-pop fusion work titled, “Ifeoma’’. Referred to as ‘original beatmaster’, D.i. whose real name is Daniel Isele originally hails from Warri, Delta State.

The incredibly talented artist is often regarded as one of the continents’ finest musicians and is a composer, producer, drummer, vocalist, rapper, bassist and pianist today. His musical genres include Afro-fusion, Jazz, Hip-hop and Afro-pop. D.i. has been in the entertainment industry for about 20 years, half of that outside the shores of the country.

He has thus far recorded three albums and also helped produce numerous others. His latest single “Ifeoma” is currently enjoying airplay in South Africa. The song is fast-paced, typical West African naija-pop style with elements of jazz and a contagious dance beat.

D.i debuted early in the music and entertainment industry as a drummer and rapper and is currently one of South Africa’s most respected music producers. Widely travelled, D.i has shared the stage with greats like George Benson, Jonathan Butler, Ronny Jordan, Ema, Havassana Sax, Bheki Khoza, Sinbogile Khumalo and also a great deal of naija hip-hop raves of the moment.

He has also performed on numerous platforms worldwide and at prominent International Jazz festivals on the continent and globally, with record of participating in music festivals in Australia, New Zealand, Uganda, Kenyan, Lesotho, Dubai, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana amongst others.

The versatile Daniel Isele a graduate of University Of Calabar and he also graduated with distinction in Business Entrepreneurship from the Richard Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa. He currently studies at the South Africa School of Motion Pictures and films.