Kagho Idhebor’s The Broken Mask (short film) and Burkina Babes (photo essay) screened at The Annual Film Mischief 2023, winning the best short film and best film poster for The Broken Mask. In Idhebor’s award-winning short film The Broken Mask, a mask maker struggles to come to terms with the realities of his daughter’s molestation, which awakens cosmic realities. After his win at the recently concluded festival, we sat with the festival-trotting filmmaker for a chat, sharing his reaction to the win, the feedback so far during festival rounds, and the place of films “as part of a broader effort…
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Closing the curtains at The Annual Film Mischief 2023 was Chude Jideonwo’s timely documentary Awaiting Trial which also took home the best feature award. In Awaiting Trial, Chude Jideonwo takes a critical look at the Nigerian justice system where citizens who are caught for crimes are incarcerated without a charge for months, and years. It presents the devastating ramifications not just in terms of social justice, and fairness, but in terms of decimating families, terrorizing communities, and creating a culture of fear. Speaking with What Kept Me Up shortly before his film screened at TAFM, Chude raises important points about…
Adeniyi Joseph Omobulejo, popularly known as TAJ, is a Nigerian filmmaker. His short film Kill The Impostor screened on the closing day of The Annual Film Mischief 2023. In Kill The Impostor, a critically acclaimed writer finds herself in troubled waters, struggling to get her groove back as she deals with self doubt. Speaking with What Kept Me Up shortly before the screening, TAJ opens up on the conception of the story, the challenges faced during production, making films with his friends and growing with them, and recent inspirations for him as a filmmaker who “mostly consumes films critically”. Film…
Atoka, directed by Seun Afolabi, was one of the five films screened on day one of the Annual Film Mischief 2023, tagged “Shoot The Culture”. A coming-of-age drama, Atoka follows Wale (Soledayo Adegbite), a down-on-his-luck young man who relocates with his wife (Damilola Oni) to his hometown for a glimpse of hope, given the loss of his job in a renowned organisation. However, things take a dramatic turn when he has to implore an unconventional teaching approach to help a failing student (Oluwatobi Fakos) reach his full potential or risk losing all hope in humanity. We had a discussion with…
Taking over the baton from last year’s director Taiwo Egunjobi, Folowosele and Chika Elumelu will oversee and guide this year’s expansion to other African countries that saw three times the submissions come in. This year’s edition has confirmed a pan-African jury headed by Nwakaego Boyo and will unveil a FilmTech conference where technologies solving local film problems will be discussed. Ahead of The Annual FIlm Mischief 2023 beginning today, we spoke to the directing duo of the festival—Tomi Folowosele and Uche Chika Elumelu— to discuss motivations, expectations and how the planning all came along for the sophomore edition themed “Shoot…
The official selections for the 2nd Annual Film Mischief and other festival-related announcements were revealed last week. Here are the six key takeaways from this year’s line-up and a glimpse of what you can expect across the 4-day festival. Nwakaego Boyo to Head the Pan African Jury for The Annual Film Mischief 2023 ‘Shoot The Culture’ (Plus Official Festival Selections Announcement) An Expansion that Includes Other African Countries The Annual Film Mischief is organized by The Film Rats Club, a Nigerian film club of industry professionals. With a second edition, tagged #ShootTheCulture, the festival opened its doors to submissions from…
The question came up, “why ten?”. I took time to ponder, “it could be 25, we should even be listing 50. It’s a celebration of movies for Christ’s sake”. But the industry is not there yet for quite a bulky list, and we are patient. For now, here are the 10 best Nollywood movies of 2021, from December 2020’s record-breaking Omo Ghetto: The Saga to Kayode Kasum’s November 2021 Soole by first-time producer Adunni Ade. What makes our list? Related: The Best Nollywood Films of 2022, So Far 10. One Lagos Night (Ekene Som Mekwunye) Ikeade: Directed by Ekene Som…
A film director has a style, and after multiple projects, a pattern is detectable, even when working across different genres and eras. Their influence, depending on the kind of project, can be seen and felt across all departments. Thus, a film’s success or failure can duly be ascribed to their efforts. Our 2021 list comprises new faces, an indie collective, a veteran, and one that is mostly known in the mainstream fold. Not going by the level of output (quantity), but by the cohesion and success of elements felt in their respective movies, here are our directors of the year:…
Welcome to our ranking of the best performers in the Nollywood movies we watched this year. We reviewed quite a number of Nollywood movies, and one argument that has repeated itself throughout the year is what makes a good performance in a movie. Sola Sobowale as Eniola Salami in KOB, Toyin Aimakhu in Prophetess, a supporting role such as Ijeoma Grace Agu’s Rose in Swallow, or Funke Akindele playing two characters in Nollywood’s box-office record-holder Omo Ghetto: The Saga. What should be regarded as impressive performance (way above abundant mediocrity), we hope our list makes a bit clearer. We don’t…
The African Movie Academy Awards 2021, hosted by actress-comedian Chigul, took place on Sunday night. Representing Nigeria were Eyimofe, Omo Ghetto: The Saga, La Femme Anjola, Ayinla, Shadow Parties, and Oba Bi Olorun in various feature categories. The biggest Nigerian winner of the night was Eyimofe, with five wins out of six, losing out to Somalia’s The Gravedigger’s Wife in the biggest category of the night— the award for Best Film, which was won by Milkmaid (a Nigerian production) in the previous year. Another Nigerian winner on the glamorous Lagos night was Lady Buckit & the Motley Mopster, an animated…