Tag: Wilfred Okiche

Wilfred Okiche profiles ‘Winner of Winners;’ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | #YNaijaPOTY2020 Nominee

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 43, is practically the most recognisable Nigerian alive. The responsibility of representing a diverse, multi-ethnic entity of 200 million people in international circles is no doubt a…

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face masks

LONG READ: Face masks are the new condoms: How a public health preventive measure will save us (yet again)

Only six months ago, a young man walking into a bank, demanding to withdraw money at the counter would have been viewed with instant suspicion. People would’ve stared uncomfortably and…

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Nigerian cinema was in focus at the Carthage Film Festival. What are the lessons learned?

The 30th edition of the Carthage Film Festival, also known as the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage was held in Tunis from 26, October to 2, November. This year’s event, billed…

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Blaqbonez

Interview: Has Blaqbonez earned the right to call himself the best rapper in Africa?

Making the claim of being the best rapper in Africa is a pretty audacious move, especially from a skinny 23-year old with an affinity for bright colors. It is the…

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Locarno

Locarno 2019: Diego Maradona, Baamum Nafi, Parasite come up top as best films

The 72nd edition of the Locarno film festival, the first under new artistic director Lili Hinstin was held from the 7th to 17th of August 2019. Hundreds of films were…

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Beyonce

What we lose (and gain) when Beyoncé decides to do Nigerian music

When you are the biggest star in the world with the weight of the almighty Disney corporation behind you, a commission to curate a side project for one of the…

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Osita Iheme

Profile: The Internet is waking up to Osita Iheme. What good can come out of it?

It has taken Osita Iheme seventeen years to achieve overnight success. At least as far as the internet is concerned. On Facebook stories, Twitter threads and on Instagram timelines, Iheme…

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Biodun Fatoyinbo

Profile: How Biodun Fatoyinbo became the most hated man in Nigeria

It is a long road from well-regarded spiritual leader to chronic adulterer and eventual social pariah but Biodun Fatoyinbo, founder and senior pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) has…

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Church

Long Read: When did the Nigerian church become scandal central?

Pop singer, Timi Dakolo ensured the month of May did not go by without the expected dose of scandal. For the Christian community in Nigeria, these occurrences, each one steeped…

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Katung

Film Review: In Katung Aduwak’s Heaven’s Hell, the rich also cry

If you scored a thousand Naira for every time the f… word was uttered in Heaven’s Hell, the long gestating debut feature length by former reality television star, Katung Aduwak,…

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Chico Ejiro

Film Review: Chico Ejiro’s Night bus to Lagos is going nowhere

There was a period between the late nineties and early aughts when Chico Ejiro was easily the most influential figure in all of Nollywood. Long before Tyler Perry would arrive…

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Emefiele

Profile: Godwin Emefiele; master of the political long con

Since the act establishing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was implemented in July 1959, only two Governors have been privileged to return for a second term. Godwin Emefiele only…

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Kizz Daniel

Long Read: What Kizz Daniel’s #FvckYouChallenge says about all of us

What does it take to get Nigerians excited in 2019? The singer formerly known as Kiss Daniel certainly has some ideas. They include sex, infidelity and the bitter dissolution of…

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President

Film review: Mr President doesn’t take itself seriously. You shouldn’t either

No better time than election season to usher in a parody of actual political happenings. Mr President (The Controversial Election) directed by Toka McBaror and produced by Shirley Ann Ede…

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Okwui

Obituary: Okwui Enwezor, giant of contemporary art

The global art world lost one of its most important and dynamic figures on Friday, 15, March when Nigerian born curator, art critic, writer, educator and administrator breathed his last…

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Annabel

Film Review: Being Annabel should have gone straight to video

Identical twins have been a mainstay of film culture for so long that stories involving look alikes and mistaken identity might as well have a sub-genre dedicated to them. With…

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Void

Film Review: Void is a surprising psychological drama

In Void, the new psychological drama produced by actor Frederick Leonard and directed by Eneaji Chris, troubling signs arrive early enough. The film opens with a handsome young man, Tonna,…

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Easy Love

#Berlinale2019: Sex and the City: A review of Tamer Jandali’s Easy Love

Editor’s Note:  Our in-house critic, Wilfred Okiche, was invited to the 2019 Berlinale Film Festival as part of its Berlinale Talents programme and is sending dispatches from the front lines…

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Rafiki

#IFFR2019: Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki is vivid and technically accomplished

Editor’s Note:  Our in-house critic, Wilfred Okiche, was invited to the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is sending dispatches from the front lines of global film, enjoy. In Wanuri Kahiu’s…

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IFFR

#IFFR2019: Present.Perfect, Capharnaüm are big winners at Rotterdam’s awards night.

The award winners for the 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) were announced Friday, 1, February 2019. The USA/Hong Kong co-production, Present. Perfect, a curious exploration of social media and…

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Fela

#IFFR2019: My Friend Fela is an intimate look at Nigeria’s biggest export

Even when the Nigerian film presence at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) appears non-existent this year, Nigeria’s most important cultural export, Fela Anikulapo Kuti pulls off something of a…

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Capernaum

#IFFR2019Review: Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum is a triumph

Editor's Note:  Our in-house critic, Wilfred Okiche, was invited to the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is sending dispatches from the front lines of global film, enjoy. In present-day Lebanon,…

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AFRIFF

Younger Nollywood filmmakers are tackling diversity in storytelling. Is there an audience?

At the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Nigeria’s biggest and most important film festival, held in Lagos from 12-17th November 2018, the closing film was not a hit. Directed by…

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Kasala

Film Review: In an industry drowning in cliches; Kasala is a breath of fresh air

In an interesting twist, one of the most refreshing movies to come out of Nollywood in a long time has no big name leading lady attached, isn’t fronted by a…

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Ayoola Ayolola

Film Review: Ayoola Ayolola is the best thing about If I am President

What better time to put out an old school drama about aspiring for the highest political office in the land than electoral season? As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)…

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Chief Daddy

Review: Chief Daddy is ready to take all your money

You have seen the trailer. It is no spoiler to report that Chief Beecroft (Taiwo Obileye), the character for which EbonyLife Film’s latest extravaganza is named, has just kicked the…

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Zainab Ahmed

Profile: Why we should be excited about Zainab Ahmed (and why we shouldn’t be)

Following the resignation of Kemi Adeosun, former Minister of Finance over allegations of a forged document exempting her from the compulsory National Youth Service Commission (NYSC), President Muhammadu Buhari named…

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From lagos with love

‘From Lagos With Love’ had so much material but played out as cheap melodrama

There is no shortage of films- Nollywood, Hollywood and beyond- that trace the dramatic unravelling of the family, nuclear or extended. The larger, the trashier, the better. Cue in the…

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Ambode

Profile: Akinwunmi Ambode has declared ambition for a second term; will he get one?

Political watchers with inside knowledge of state and party politics insist that despite his incumbent status, Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is good as finished politically. Word on the street…

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Corruption

Fighting Corruption is Dangerous is an interesting retelling of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s legacy

2018 173 pages MIT Press According to Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the global average tenure for a finance minister is two years. In Nigeria, Ngozi…

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