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NOVEMBER 20, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER
ARTS & REVIEW\\MOVIES Group Partner Govt to Promote Art among Secondary Schools in Imo Amby Uneze in Owerri
Dunni in a Movie Titled: The Wedding Party
ALL SET FOR THE WEDDING PARTY Okechukwu Uwaezuoke
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eally, it should come as no surprise that the Dubai Tourism Grand Premiere of The Wedding Party is already sold out. No one who attended FIFTY’s grand premiere at Eko Hotel and Suites late last year should have expected anything less. This ELFIKE Film Collective movie, directed by Kemi Adetiba, still relishes the rapturous response it received at its sold-out screening on the opening night of Toronto International Film Festival in September. The prestigious Elgin Theatre, according to reports, was brimming over with an audience of over 1,400 viewers, including some of Africa’s biggest names Meanwhile, the star-studded premiere, which holds this week-
end, will feature the cast of the movie, including Banky W, Adesua Etomi, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ireti Doyle, Alibaba Akpobome and Sola Sobowale. “The much-talked-about premiere is undoubtedly the most sought-after invitation of 2016,” crows a statement from the premiere’s organisers. “It promises to be an unforgettable evening, with a line-up of exciting activities at the Bridal Court, Love Zone and Gourmet Board, before guests watch the film in a custombuilt theatre. There will be a gifting lounge, hosted by Santa Claus, after which guests can move to the Honeymoon Bay for the after-party. During the evening, there will be a raffle draw with lots of fabulous prizes to be won.” The ELFIKE Film Collective, by the way, is a collaboration of Africa’s leading film powerhouses: EbonyLife Films, FilmOne Distribu-
tion, Inkblot Productions and Koga Studios. “They bring together years of experience and a wealth of creative resources, to make Nigerian movies with high production values and global appeal,” the statement added. Recall that EbonyLife Film’s debut, FIFTY, was named last year as the only Nigerian film and one of only five African films from a global selection of 238 films and selected to screen at the 59th BFI London Film Festival in 2015. While its Grand Premiere, which flaunted the crème de la crème of Nigeria’s upper crust, was hosted by Mo Abudu, one of the Executive Producers of The Wedding Party and CEO of EbonyLife Films, Dubai Tourism leads a collection of premium sponsors, including Airtel, Diageo, Bank of Industry, Access Bank, Bollinger and Amstel Malta, amongst others for The Wedding Party’s Grand Premiere.
AgroupknownasSylvesterChukwueguArts Foundation(SCAF)ispartneringwiththeImoState governmenttopromoteartsinthestateinordernotto allowtheskilltogointoextinction,evenasgovernment isurgedtocontributetothegrowthofartinthesociety. SpeakingduringtheinaugurallaunchofSCAFatthe GovernmentCollege,Owerri,ImoState,theChairman ofSCAF,Mr.IfeanyiSylvesterChukwuegudecriedthe attitudeofgovernmentandlackofinterestonthepart ofthesocietytoembracetheworkofcreativitywhich artpresentsasamajorfulcrumtorecallhistoricalfacts andsituateittothepresentcircumstance. Accordingtohim,Iwantthegovernmentto embracethisfoundationwhichisanon-profit organisationwiththesoleaimtoencourageartthat couldbringhonourtothesociety.Itmightbring honourtothecountryasartistscancapturethewhole emotionsofthecountryinapainting,inmusicandin otherformssothattheproblemofthecountrycanbe addressedfromthere. “Wewantsupportalsofromcorporatebodiesso thatwecanfeatureartsexhibitionforprofessionals insteadofsecondaryschoolstudentswhichwe aredoingthisyear.Thisisourdreamtocontinueto promoteartexhibitioninlinewithwhatourfathertold usnottoallowarts todieinthiscountry,”hesaid. X-rayinghislatefather’sworkwhichaccording tohim,isscatteredallovertheworld,suchasSanta Barbara,California,USA.UK,EthiopiaandNigeria, Chukwuegusaidthathislatefatherwasnotonlyan artistbutaprolificarcher,whotookthefirstpositionin acompetitioninAbiaatatime. ThelateSylvesterChukwuegu,anativeofNguru nwekeinAbohMbaiseofImostatewastheChairman ofArtsandCultureinAbaLocalGovernment,worked atAbaTextileMills,GovernmentTechnicalCollege Aba,etcandamonghisworksweretheBustofthe Unknownwomanin Aba,waterFountainatCKCCathedralAba,Lord LugardStatueatNationalMuseumAba,water fountainatNTA,Aba. Amonghisworksthatwonlaurelsatboth nationalandinternationaleventsincluded;thecarved goddessofNnewi“EDO”,thiswonthefirstposition inEastCentralStateandatthenationalfestivalof artsinLagosin1971,thegoldengongwhichwas presentedtoEmperorHaileSelassieofEthiopiaby GeneralYakubuGowononhisvisittoNigeriathen, the“Amadioha”masterpiecewhichwonaprizeatthe FESTAC77inLagos. Inhislecturetitled“CreativeArtandtheyoung mindsofoursociety”byDr.AkachiOdoemeneofthe DepartmentofHistoryandInternationalStudies, FederalUniversity,Otuoke,BayelsaState,hestated thatarthasbeenprovenasanexpressivecultural activitieslikemusic,danceanddramathatpromotes activityinthebrain.Accordingtohim,artshelpyoung mindsunderstandbetterothersubjectsmuchmore clearlyfrommathsandscience,tolanguage,the artsandgeography.Italsonurturesinventiveness asitengagesyoungmindsinaprocessthataidsin thedevelopmentofself-esteem,self-discipline, cooperation,andself-motivation. Thehighlightofthelaunchingwasanartexhibition andcompetitionwherefourmajorsecondaryschools inthestate;MbaiseSecondarySchool,Government SecondarySchool,Owerri,AkwuakumaGirlsSecondarySchool,andOrjiComprehensiveSecondary School,participated.
Coal City Book Convention Flags Off on Tuesday This Tuesday, Peekay Gardens in Enugu will host to this year’s Coal City Book Convention. And this will be the eighth in the annual series of the literary fiesta. Conceived in 2009 precisely to immortalise the rich story-telling tradition among the Igbo people of Nigeria, the opening ceremony will this year highlight the conferment of The Olaudah Equiano Life-Award on two
Igbo heroes – legendary mathematician and educationist Dame Maria David-Osuagwu, 83, and the immediate pastVice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka Professor Bartho Okolo, 58. This award was inspired by the career of 18th-century slave-turned-author Olaudah Equiano, who published his book of memoirs in 1789 in London.Titled The Interesting
Dame Maria David-Osuagwu
Professor Bartho Okolo
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the book elevated the legend to the additional pedestal of being the first-ever published black author in the history of literature. Besides alluding to Equiano’s Igbo roots, The Coal City Book Convention’s organisers also cite a statement in the book –“we are almost a nation of dancers, musicians and poets”– as an indication of the very definite existence of aesthetic literary expression among the Igbo since before the dawn of time.This fact served to add impetus to the enviable record of literary outputs by writers of Igbo extraction on a scale of 70% of Nigerian literature in the English language. This evident flair for literary expression is believed to have peaked in 1947, which kicked off the“boom”years of a phenomenon that became celebrated as the“Onitsha Market Pamphlet Literature”, from which such literary legends as Cyprian Ekwensi and Ogali A. Ogali bloomed long before such later literary luminaries as Achebe and Soyinka. These considerations inspired the creation of The Coal City Book Convention by The Delta Book Club, a subsidiary of the
Enugu-based Delta Publications (Nigeria) Limited. CEO and Convener, author Dillibe Onyeama, schemed to capitalise on the principle of a book in every man, predicated on the idea that every man has a story to tell. The remarkable career of each Equiano life-awardee, selected by a committee of five stakeholders in the book industry, was calculated to give the right inspiration to Igbo youths in particular and the people of Nigeria in general, with the mind to stem drift and delinquency through such examples of sacrifice, hard work and selfless service. Notable achievers who have been crowned with the Equiano award at colourful well-attended ceremonies include (but not limited to) Professor Chinedu Nebo, late researcher and author Professor Catherine Acholonu, saintly paediatrician Dame Winnie Kaine, octogenarian novelist Professor Anezi Okoro, administrator Dame Bernice Agbo, Professor Sam Ukpabi,Traditional Ruler Igwe Chris Ogakwu, late Catholic cleric and thinker Fr. Stan Anih, Chief Nduka Eya and widows’ rights crusader Dame Gozie Udemezue.