AFRIFF to Honour Late Patron Wigwe with Trailblazer Award

Vanessa Obioha

The 2024 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will see the introduction of a new award category in honour of its late patron Herbert Wigwe who passed away earlier this year. Named Herbert Wigwe Trailblazer Award, the award will recognize Nigerians making outstanding contributions in creative fields, especially in the diaspora.

During a press briefing, AFRIFF’s founder Chioma Ude emotionally described Wigwe as “a visionary in the Nigerian creative economy whose tremendous generosity to the festival and ardent support of the arts can never be underestimated nor forgotten.”

”This award category will focus on celebrating Nigerians excelling in the creative fields, acknowledging Wigwe’s contributions to the growth of Africa’s cultural and creative industries,” she said.

The inaugural recipients of the award are Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah, founder of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. According to Ude, these awards will be presented by the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, at the opening gala.

In addition to these honorees, Ude shared that trailblazer awards will be given in Film, Music, Culinary Arts, Fashion, and Technology.

The 2024 AFRIFF will kick off on Sunday, November 3 with the opening film ‘Headless’ directed by Michael Ndiomu. It will also feature premieres of films such as Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Recall,’ and BasketMouth’s ‘A Ghetto Love Story,’ while Showmax is expected to showcase their new original Princess on a Hill. Nigerian-British rapper Skepta will debut his short film ‘Tribal Mark,’ while Obi Emelonye’s ‘Out of Breath’ will close the festival.

Prominent attendees expected this year include Nigerian-British actor John Boyega and Swedish-Somali filmmaker Filson Ali.

This year’s festival theme is ‘Indigenous to Global: Cultural Wealth for Global Prosperity,’ and will take place at AFRIFF Hub, The Palms, Oniru, Lagos.