Produced by Cheffy – Houzeboys, Naomi Achu‘s “Suga” is basically a portfolio for what this diva is a lot about – great singing and awesome rapping. And, with the splendid visuals for the single directed by Champion Studio + StyleCitizens, Naomi Achu proves she’s a boss lady.

Fashion Stylist & Make-Up Styling: Nicki Statement

Check on it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i_Rviaq4Tko

chic2pimp:

Repeat after me "I am a bigtime doofus"

No ones cares about who finishes second and third in football. It's all about the winner. You might as well have finished last for all the care in the world. Or do u think this is the olympics were the silver and bronze medals are highly sort after?

Says the guy who probably hasn't participated in a professional sport before. Go tell that to the Mali team currently besides themselves. You're going to tell them not to celebrate that they at least got a medal? Dimwit.

Maybe, based on the motivation that they got to third place twice, they can be motivated to actually do better on the next tourney and actually win the cup. But for now, I don't see the Mali team moping around that they were third. Instead, they were celebrating that they were going home with at least something: a bronze medal. And you know what, based on their hard work, they deserve it.

Now, who's the big-time doofus?

Black Kenichi:

Yet Nigeria still has on 2 AFCON titles! Maybe 3 tomorrow!

And four, and five, etc. -- hopefully.

chic2pimp:

Una don come be dat o?
Which nah silver and bronze medals 4 football again?

Uhh, those circular medal thingies handed out to the runner-ups and third-place finishers at the end of their respective matches?

Hello? Is anybody home? Think, ara-oko, think!

Conquistador: funny people,funny country.do u know how many gold,silver n bronze Ghana has won.even if Ghana doesn't win a medal 4 10 yrs,nigeria will not come close

In the history of the AFCON, Ghana has won 4 cups, which isn't really that impressive, considering that two of them came when only up to 6 teams participated.

Ironically, while you boast of Ghana's "gold,silver n bronze" (as you so eloquently typed), Nigeria has Ghana beaten in that department: not as many cups, I agree, but with far more silver and bronze medals. Naija has 4 silver and 7 bronze, while Ghana has 4 and 1.

So, final hardware tally: Nigeria, 13; Ghana 9. In fact, Nigeria is the reigning AFCON king in this aspect.

Nice try, though.

The long-anticipated comedy thriller Streets of Calabar will have an exclusive screening and movie premiere before opening in cinemas throughout Nigeria.

Wondering when Streets of Calabar, the much talked-about movie from former CNN and BBC journalist Charles Aniagolu, will ever see the light of day?

Well, wonder no more.

In a press release sent exclusively to Nollyscope, Aniagolu—who wrote, produced and co-directed the film—reveals that there will be an exclusive screening of Streets of Calabar for the press and business partners in Lagos at 10 a.m. on Friday, December 14, 2012. The event will take place at the Silverbird Galleria located at Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The movie premiere is scheduled to take place a week after the screening: befittingly, at the 2012 Calabar Festival at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 21, 2012. The venue will be the FilmHouse at the Marina Resort in Calabar. Streets of Calabar will open in cinemas nationwide on the same day.

Special guests to the premiere include Cross River State governor Liyel Imoke; his wife, Barrister Obioma Liyel Imoke; and the Minister of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation Chief Edem Duke. Additional celebrity guests will be announced within the next few days.

Production company Spirit Creations UK presents the movie in association with the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Silverbird Distribution and UNICEM.

“We are thrilled to bring the premiere of the film Streets of Calabar to the newly completed ultra modern FilmHouse cinema at the Marina Resort and to the world-famous Calabar Festival,” said Michael Williams, Managing Director of the Cross River State Tourism Bureau. “The festival is a premier showcase of Nigerian cultural innovation, the finest achievements of African arts and the best in black creativity; and this movie definitely adds to that impressive diversity.”

Said Aniagolu about the Streets of Calabar: “This film is a must see. The storyline has several twists in it that will keep moviegoers glued to their seats. Nollywood fans will be thrilled with both the revelatory narrative style and the production value of this movie. I’m happy that the premiere is taking place in the fabulous metropolis of Calabar, one of the most visually beautiful cities in West Africa and the same location where much of the movie was filmed.”

Rita Dominic, 2012 winner of the AMAA Best Actress award and one of the stars of the movie, had this to say: “Streets of Calabar is an international-standard movie which was shot on location in London, England and against the spectacular backdrop of Calabar and Cross River State, with a great storyline and an international cast. The film really is something for the moviegoer to get excited about.”

Streets of Calabar is about two down-on-their-luck scammers compelled to become part of a covert police mission to stop a mysterious gangster from taking over the peaceful streets of Calabar. The movie is written in a mixture of English and pidgin, takes optimal advantage of Calabar’s festive and colorful backdrop, and infuses humor and wit in a story of crime and danger.

Aniagolu directed Streets of Calabar with Frank Macaulay. Apart from Dominic, other cast members include Wale Ojo (Phone Swap), Anthony Ofoegbu, Maynard Eziashi, Keppy Ekpenyong, Lisa Kill and Vicqui Christie. — DCA

http://www.nollyscope.com/news/streets-of-calabar-gets-premiere-date/

Nollywood director Charles Novia calls Hoodrush—starring OC Ukeje and Bimbo Akintola—a “great movie.”

It almost seems like these days whatever comes out of the mouth (or in this case, keystrokes) of Charles Novia, it makes headlines. There were the stories of his quarrel with Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and the tension between Genevieve Nnaji and Stella Damasus: excerpts he culled from his recently published memoir Nollywood Till November. And then there was the thrashing he gave Tonto Dikeh’s twin singles.

And he’s back—with a critique of Hoodrush, the musical thriller that was released in cinemas throughout Nigeria on Friday, October 12. And the review, which he posted on his Facebook page today, is glowing with praise.

Directed by Dimeji Ajibola, Hoodrush features OC Ukeje, Bimbo Akintola, Gabriel Afolayan, Chelsea Eze, Ijeoma Agu and Leelee Byoma.

Below is Novia’s review of Hoodrush in its entirety:

‎’HOODRUSH’ : AN AMBITION FULFILLED: I am not in the habit of doing critiques of Nollywood movies, primarily for the reason that it might be misconstrued by people in the industry as inappropriate, given the manner my past objective critiques of personalities in the entertainment industry have stirred up storms of needless controversy. Another reason I don’t critique Nollywood movies is because I understand the limitations and frustrations the principal movers of each movie pass through to put the final output on the shelves.

However, that does not in anyway stop me from lambasting the silly and intellectually befuddling movies majorly churned out from the Asaba axis where professionalism is thrown to the dogs and an alarming rate of bandwagon stories and undignified elementary acting, coupled with laughable directing, have become the order of the day over there. And such movies from Asaba, unfortunately, get to be judged as the best the English sector of Nollywood have to offer, which rubs off negatively on other hard-working personalities in the industry. Perhaps, my using the term ‘Asaba movies’ may seem condescending to some people. I don’t have any apologies. In English Literature of Nigerian origins, the term ‘Onitsha Market Literature’ wasn’t well-received either but the stark realism of that genre is not in doubt. My reservations about the Asaba movies will be addressed in another post. I am more concerned with the feeling of exhilaration which has enveloped me for a couple of days after watching the movie ‘HOODRUSH’.

I don’t know the Director of that movie personally, neither have I heard of his artistic antecedents before now but as a trained film maker and an ‘elder’ in the business, I am inclined to stand and give a standing ovation to Dimeji Ajibola for a job well done. I told a few of my colleagues last night that with such bright sparks coming into the industry, there is much hope that the collective vision of moving the industry to greater heights will be achieved. I’m not going to give much critiques of the movie in this post. I will only commend the great and believable acting of O.C Ukeje, who ( as I have constantly predicted over the past couple of years) is the next Big Star in Nollywood, putting his body of work in perspective. OC was superb in the movie as was Gabriel Afolayan, a sibling of movie Director, Kunle Afolayan. There was a certain and believable organic chemistry between both guys who acted as brothers and the screen literally oozed with the brotherly affection they had for each other.

The movie is a musical, with great compositions of contemporary songs and both actors delivered their singing abilities to the hilt. It is to the credit of the Producer that he cast OC and Gabriel, both proven singers, in a true-to-type casting which made their role interpretations very easy. Gabriel got me in goose flesh when he made the final appearance at the Audition scene where he sang and was able to internalize a poignant pain from the preceding scenes which he brought out visually in that audition scene. Wow! I’m proud of these guys!

Bimbo Akintola, an experienced and oft-overlooked talent in Nollywood, gave the best acting in her life for years, in my opinion. I intend to do a special tribute to Bimbo on my Facebook page soon and much of that has been done in my book ‘NOLLYWOOD TILL NOVEMBER’ but permit me to sing her praises a bit here. Bimbo is the quintessential actress, the actor’s actor. I couldn’t help but scream in pure pleasure as she delivered scene after scene with a panache only a true thespian can achieve. I predict that Bimbo will win the ‘Best Actress’ laurel with this movie in any of the numerous awards in Nollywood, if the judges too are true to their sense of appreciation. OC Ukeje and Gabriel Afolayan should also be winning ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ too in same award ceremonies.

New actress, Ijeoma Agu, was also fantastic in her outing. I like the fact that the Director chose to use her as Afolayan’s love interest and de-emphasized her passive and bland beauty for a ghetto look which she carried admirably throughout the movie. What Ijeoma lacks in looks, she made up impressively with her superb acting. She gave her role’s magnum opus in the scene where she sang ‘I believe in you’ to Afolayan. There were few dry eyes in the hall when we watched that scene.

‘ HOODRUSH’ is a great movie, despite a few lapses, very few though which I deliberately will skip here because they are barely noticeable and also to encourage all readers of this piece to go all out to watch this movie, now showing in the Cinemas across Nigeria. For fulfilling the requirements which make a good movie, the Director achieved a film maker’s ultimate ambition; to make a good movie. I doff my hat to a younger colleague and welcome him to the ladder of progress. May his road not cross the Asaba movie expressway, which at this point has lesser and horrendous destinations for the quality of Nollywood, not quantity.

(NOTE: The only edit made on Novia’s post was breaking it into paragraphs for easier reading. The term “Asaba movies” should actually be written as “Alaba movies.” It’s a derogatory term referring to the thousands of usually low-budget, poor-quality home movies commissioned by the marketers at Lagos-based Alaba International Market, the main commercial hub of Nollywood.) — DCA

http://www.nollyscope.com/news/charles-novia-praises-hoodrush/

Last Flight to Abuja director Obi Emelonye announces his plan to shoot an Igbo-language movie, joining the effort to resurrect the most significant genre of Nollywood’s history.

“BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!”

Indeed. Director Obi Emelonye raised the bar for Nollywood this year with Last Flight to Abuja. And now he’s raising it higher.

“I have been postponing it for a while now,” wrote Emelonye on his Facebook page, “but it is keeping me awake too many nights. My people need me. So here you have it!”

The “it” in question is an Igbo-language film, which will be produced under his Nollywood Factory imprint.

“The Nollywood Factory would be shooting a ‘new age Igbo film’ set in London imminently,” he continued.

Auditions will kick off mid-November in Woolwich, a district in southeast London. More details are forthcoming.

“Prepare to shine on the big screen and be shot into showbiz stratosphere,” said Emelonye. And the only condition? “[Y]ou should be ready to speak Igbo, whatever your colour or ethnicity,” he concluded.

Igbo-language films are making a comeback, which can be considered a response to the dwindled number of such productions. Ironically, it was an Igbo-language movie, Living in Bondage (1992), that established Nollywood, which has been the most prolific and profitable era of Nigerian cinema. However, within the next two decades, English—starting with 1994′s Glamour Girls—has become the lingua franca of Nigerian movies, with Igbo taking a serious hit.

According to data culled from the Nigerian Film and Videos Census Board (NFVCB) and reported by Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) managing director Roberts Orya, 44 percent of Nigerian movies produced in 2010 were in English, followed by 31 percent in Yoruba and 24 percent in Hausa. Igbo comprised a woeful 1 percent.

Due to increasing demand, though, that low percentage might get a boost from certain filmmakers. They include Vining Ogu with the upcoming movie Akuoma (Good Wealth)—and now, Obi Emelonye. — DCA


http://www.nollyscope.com/news/last-flight-to-abuja-director-to-shoot-igbo-film/

Call her an optimist.

In an interview with Fidelis Mbah of BBC to promote her new film Amina, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde responded positively to the question: “Nollywood movies have over the years received knocks for low quality and poor scripts. Has anything changed lately?”

“Oh absolutely. If you watch most movies out of Nollywood in the past three, four years—perhaps in 2006, consistently—most of the big-budget movies are what they are: big-budget movies. They can compete with any other movie from anywhere else around the world—even Hollywood.”

Later, Mbah said: “Judging by international recognition and awards, Nollywood film industry doesn’t seem to be doing so well, despite the number of movies produced almost on daily basis.”

“Really? You think we’re not doing very well? It’s ‘supposedly’ the third largest movie industry in the world,” replied Omotola, raising her fingers to denote quotes for the word “supposedly.”

“And we’re barely just 16 years old,” she continued. “I think that’s very well—extremely well, actually.”

However, the 34-year-old actress, who had her breakthrough with 1995′s Moral Inheritance, recognizes that Nollywood is not “perfect,” placing its limitations on its foundation in a “Third World country” that is “still growing.”

“We’re doing the best we humanly can, and I think we have grown tremendously,” said Omotola, citing Amina as an example.

Amina, a joint Nigerian-British production directed by Christian Ashiaku, is a psychological human drama. Omotola stars as the titular character: a young woman who suffers a mental breakdown due to a series of unfortunate events. The world premiere took place on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at London’s Empire Cinemas in Leicester Square.

http://www.nollyscope.com/news/omotola-nollywood-can-compete-with-hollywood/

You might have missed the cinema run of Ije: The Journey two years ago. But take heart; the wait for a second chance is coming to an end.

Allegro Media Group, an independent music and movie distributor headquartered in Portland, Ore., is releasing the movie on DVD. Retailers like Best Buy, Movies Unlimited, and Buy.com will have the item as early as July 10. Others like Amazon.com and CD Universe will start selling the Ije DVD on August 28.

Allegro is manufacturing the DVD for the United States and Canada markets. There’s no word yet on when Ije will be released for other regions, if at all.

The makers behind Ije have been mum about any possible DVD release since the movie premiered in the U.S. on April 1, 2010 and in Nigeria three months later (July 30). It’s a sharp contrast with the considerable measure of acclaim the movie received upon its initial release. Directed and co-written by New York Film Academy alum Chineze Anyaene, Ije eventually won eight film festival awards.

Ije means “walk” or “journey” in Igbo (thus the subtitle). It tells the story of Chioma (Genevieve Nnaji), who hires legal counsel to fight a triple murder charge levied against her imprisoned sister Anya (Omotola Jalade Ekeinde).

Some Nollywood observers credit Ije—like Kunle Afolayan’s The Figurine, which came out the year before—with helping nurture Nigeria’s return to a cinema culture, as well as raising the bar on movie quality. The revival comes after almost two decades of home video dominance, the prolificacy of which has made the Nigerian film industry one of the largest in the world.

http://www.nollyscope.com/news/ije-finally-gets-dvd-release-date/