‘Beyond the Convergence’: Preparations heat up for Lagos international Film Festival 2023
* Unveils Red Carpet movies, jingles as WAP pledges support
By Godwin Okondo
ORGANISERS have promised that ‘Beyond the Convergence: The Imperative for Partnerships’ as theme for this year’s edition of Lagos international Film Festival (LIFF 2023) will engender a robust collaboration between filmmakers and everyone in the cinematic ecosystem, as creatives attending the film feast are encouraged to ‘create motion (picture) history together.’ This is apt given that a film project is a communal affair, with different personnel contributing their talent to create a cohesive cinematic showpiece also for communal enjoyment. Activities will focus on the need for content creators to develop new partnerships that will enable them survive the challenges of a rapidly changing cinematic universe.
Lagos, the Centre of Excellence, is venue for the historic event that will feature shorts, feature length and documentary films from filmmakers around the globe, and scheduled to hold from August 30 through September 2, 2023. The Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, and Sky Mall, Lekki-Ekpe Expressway, Lagos are the venues for the 3-day feast of cinema.
Four films have pencilled down as Red Carpet movies that audience members will relish at the festival. These are Steph Nora-Okere’s Dance With Me, Uzo Okpechi’s Kamsi, Kemi Adekomi’s Dark Clouds and Joseph Adejoh’s Awomi. These new movies will be unveiled as Red Carpet movies at the Lagos International Film Festival. The cast and crew of the movies will be celebrated in a colourful red carpet receptions at the prestigious Oriental Hotels, Victoria Island Lagos. Okoechi’s film Kamsi has been selected as the festival’s opening film. It will be screened at 6:00pm at Oriental Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos. Adejoh’s Awomi will be screened on Saturday September 2 at 2:00pm while Okere’s Dance With Me will be screened the same day at 5:00pm at the same venue.
Festival Director, Daisy Madu Chikwendu
Head of Ceremonies at Team LIFF 2023, Mr. Sunny Baba, explained the Red Carpet movies thus, “The selection of these movies is without prejudice to their competition status .These are two different tracks supervised by two different sets of professionals.”
Team LIFF recently unveiled the festival’s ground-breaking Jingle, which is said to be an exciting one that captures the pictorial essence and beauty of Nigeria’s cultural capital, Lagos. “At LIFF we go the extra mile to sustain our history and legacy of innovation as Nollywood’s premier film festival,” said Festival Director, Mrs. Daisy Madu-Chikwendu.
Meanwhile, Team LIFF 2023 consists of Festival Founder, Mr. Madu Chikwendu, Festival Director, Daisy Madu Chikwendu, Head of Ceremonies, Sunny Baba, Head of Media/Publicity/Protocols, Kate Ezeigbo, and Marketing, Ajuzie Jacob Chidinma Linda. Others are Operations, Bassey Hogan, Technical Coordinator, Cosmas, Project Assistant, Cynthia Chukwuma-Amadi, and Production, Chikwendu Henry Madu and Emmanuel Oritsetimeyin Ofeno.
Also, foremost Nollywood conglomerate Wale Adenuga Productions (WAP) has lent its weight to Lagos International Film Festival (LIFF), expressing its commitment to support Nollywood’s premier film festival, LIFF. “We will play your jingles across our platforms,” Wale Adenuga Jnr. confirmed to reporters in Lagos. Head of LIFF Ceremonies and Protocols, Mr. Sunny Baba, expressed gratitude for the support, stressing that “This partnership is a very symbiotic one that delivers great value, not just for LIFF and WAP, but also for the larger Nollywood and African film industry.”
This festival is open to all industry creatives, investors, corporates and friends of the industry to meet and interact, partner and exhibit creative works. For further enquiries on how to participate, register, book, and sponsor, send an email to contact007czar@gmail.com.
