Cannes is Waiting for Nollywood

“I was gripped by a need to ‘discover’ Africa. Not just Senegal, but just about the entire continent… I became aware that I had to learn to make films if I really wanted to reach my people. A film can be seen and understood even by illiterate people – a book cannot speak to entire populations!”
~ Ousmane Sembène (1 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival.


Competing at the Cannes is as important as making the nominations for the Oscars.

"Cannes is a showcase for excellence. And when the spotlight is placed on me or Philippe Lacote here, it extends far beyond us…. It is important as far as Africa having a presence and having visibility and A place in the festival. Africa is very rarely visible on the world scene.”
~ Mauritanian-born, Mali-raised filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, at the 2014 Cannes, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-african-filmmakers-enjoy-spotlight-706760

"African cinema will be very present at Cannes," said festival director Thierry Fremaux during a press conference for the 67th Cannes Film Festival last May. And indeed Africa was well represented by Abderrahmane Sissako's "Timbuktu" that competed for the Palme d'Or and Philippe Lacote’s first feature film "Run" in the Un Certain Regard category.

Nollywood filmmakers have been attending Cannes Film Festivals, but more as mere spectators and not as competitors, except for the few Nollywood movies screened at the Nigerian pavilion, Marché du film and
"Cinemas du Sud" (Cinemas of the South) pavilion. No Nollywood movie has made the selection for the competition or out of competition at the annual Cannes Film Festival. But a Nigerian filmmaker Newton Aduaka’s acclaimed multiple award winning war film “Ezra” in 2007 was at the Cannes. Of course “Ezra” is not a Nollywood movie and the director is not a Nollywood filmmaker, but he is currently the most accomplished Nigerian filmmaker since the generation of Dr. Ola Balogun, Francis Oladele and Chief Eddie Ugbomah. His first feature “Rage” in 2001 was the first indie film by a black filmmaker in the history of British cinema to make nationwide box-office and won the Carlton Television Multicultural Award.
- See more at: http://www.nigeriansreport.com/2014/08/cannes-is-waiting-for-nollywood.html#sthash.PefI8lL8.dpuf