As Hollywood and Bollywood stars shine at the premiere of the sexual drama "Sleeping Beauty" the toast of the 64th Cannes Film Festival, nothing to show from Nollywood the so called second largest movie industry in the world.

Nollywood stars are simply unknown here. Appearing on the CNN or being mentioned on the Oprah Winfrey Show will make Nigerians go gaga, but what really counts is breaking the ice and making heads turn at the Cannes or Oscars and not at the Silverbird Galleria.

In fact no Nigerian TV knows what is going at the Cannes, except few of the notable Nigerian journalists/film critics like Shaibu Husseini of The Guardian, Victor Akande of The Nation and Steve Ayorinde. The others are the veteran Nigerian filmmaker and scholar  Afolabi Adesanya, who is  the MD/CE of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) with his delegation at the Nigerian pavilion where some of the Nigerian movie makers Like Faruk Lasaki, Kunle Afolayan, Madu Chikwendu, Fidelis Duker and others can meet and receive visitors. Today the European media partner of Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF), Mr. Bruno Chatelin was at the pavilion to receive an important message from Mr. Hope Obioma Opara, the President of EKOIFF. The other Nigerians here are not different from the tourists. The only Nigerian online news media reporting the Cannes Film Festival since 2005 is International Digital Post Network (IDPN) Limited publishers of 24/7 Nigeria and other niche websites. See it all only on  www.247nigeria.com and get the juicy news of the red carpet in audio, video and photos. 



Photo: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan arrives on the red carpet for the screening of the film “Sleeping Beauty”, in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, May 12, 2011. Twenty films are competing in the May 11 to 22 cinema showcase, with a roll call including major screen stars, revered “auteur” directors and relative newcomers. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE – Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

I tell my friends that I'll be a failure in the film industry if I make films and don't ever get an Oscar, Golden Globe, Bafta or Cannes prize nomination.

That said, you just made a very good point we should keep repeating over and over again - Oscar nomination please,

Thanks for the post.

@Orikinla
Another Cannes film festival ends and still the Nigerian film industry has nothing to offer. It's just a pity. 

@Jayboy124
Your film has to be released in the U.S. in order to get an Oscar or a Golden Globe nomination.

The 2011 Cannes Palme d'Or winner THE TREE OF LIFE is now showing at limited theaters in the U.S. It gets a wide release on July 8 2011.

@Obinna5000 - Can try for foreign language nomination. But again, good movies get acquired at film festivals et al most notably, Slamdance.

Can't remember again, but think one's film has to be shown for two weeks or so in a cinema in Los Angeles or so to qualify for Oscar consideration. Don't really know the full rules but have read them before and it's easy to handle if you're a average player in the movie industry.

@ OP
BUT but but Genny was there with Robert De Niro doesnt that count?

iice:

^lol.

Not surprised.