Nollywood Film Festival, envisioned as an annual festival that screens the best of Nigerian movies in New Zealand and Australia, will again screen Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage on October 16.
First shown on October 9 in Wellington as part of a reception hosted by the Nigerian High Commission, it is an inspiring story of how a young sickle cell carrier overcomes social stigma and prejudice. Chris Dada’s Lagos Stories and Tunde Kelani’s Maami are the other Nigerian movies screening at the festival this month.
As part of the festival, there will be academic fora at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and Auckland University of Technology (AUT). The forum hosts are the Film Studies programme at VUW and African Communities Forum Inc., as well as West Indian and Caribbean Society at AUT. The theme of the forum is Nigerian Movies in the Diaspora: Socio-cultural, Political and Economic Issues.
The keynote speaker is the Nigerian High Commissioner, Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni. The panelists are Professor Jonathan Haynes (Long Island University, U.S.A), Dr. Onookome Okome (University of Alberta, Canada), Dr. Kole Ade Odutola (University of Florida, U.S.A), Kelani, and Chris Dada (Director of Lagos Stories).
“Good initiative. Let the show go on! Hopefully, this will help in the construction of a new and positive narrative on Nigeria in NZ and the Pacific region in general. Two thumbs up!” says Ambassador Ayo Olukanni, Nigerian High Commission, Canberra, Australia.
