Tag: African movie stars

Movies

DOES ‘BOUND: AFRICANS VS. AFRICAN-AMERICANS’ HAVE A POINT?

By TeamEbony | Ebony

“Africans owe African-Americans an apology for slavery” is one of the incendiary remarks and fiery cultural topics director Peres Owino covers in her latest no-flex-zone feature-length documentary, Bound: Africans vs. African Americans. Owino, a self-professed hot sample of Kenyan coco, has directed a film that will have viewers question their love of Black culture and historical stereotypes they didn’t realize they held on to day to day. Bound is a straight shot to the cerebral cortex challenge of our approach to race, gender and relations.

Continue reading “DOES ‘BOUND: AFRICANS VS. AFRICAN-AMERICANS’ HAVE A POINT?” →
Uncategorized

WITH BIGGER THAN AFRICA, TOYIN ADEKEYE UNIFIES PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENTS

By SHAIBU HUSSEINI | The Guardian Newspaper

Although he has been touring festivals worldwide screening his first feature documentary, Bigger Than Africa, Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye’s dream was to have the cultural documentary stream on a global platform so that more people will get to see the film outside festivalgoers.

That dream came through for the filmmaker and President of Motherland Productions in Los Angeles on May 13, 2022, when the documentary film about the journey of enslaved Africans through the lens of the Yoruba culture of West Africa debuted on the global streaming platform Netflix.

Continue reading “WITH BIGGER THAN AFRICA, TOYIN ADEKEYE UNIFIES PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENTS” →
Movies

Sudanese-American artists focus of film, community conversation

BY THE BETHEL CITIZEN 

PORTLAND — On Mon. April 4, Revolution from Afar will be available to stream virtually on the WORLD Channel, and will broadcast on Maine Public Television Thurs., April 7 at 9 p.m. and Sat., April 9 at 2 p.m.

The program partners will then host a free community conversation virtually on Mon. April 11 at  8 p.m. with the film’s director, Bentley Brown, artist Khadega Mohammed and Portland-based poet, Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar. Moderator Hana Baba, of NPR’s KALW, will engage the panel with questions of identity, art, activism, and the work of individual and communal efficacy.

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Uncategorized

Amazon’s going to Nollywood — and its deals with studios could shake up one of the world’s most prolific filmmaking hubs

By Thomas Page | CNN

In its hunt for content, Amazon Prime Video has turned to Nigeria, where it has secured key deals with studios that could shake up business in Africa’s most prolific filmmaking hub.

In recent months, the US giant has signed exclusive streaming agreements with Inkblot Productions and Anthill Studios — which say the deals will fundamentally change the way they operate.

Continue reading “Amazon’s going to Nollywood — and its deals with studios could shake up one of the world’s most prolific filmmaking hubs” →
Entertainment

Will Smith and David Oyelowo Team to Adapt ‘Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun’ for Netflix

By Angelique Jackson | Variety

Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and David Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon have partnered with Netflix to produce the film adaptation of “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun.”

Based on the upcoming book by British-Nigerian author, journalist and hair care educator Tọlá Okogwu, “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun” tells the tale of a teenager who learns she has powers and travels to Nigeria to learn more about her origins, where she discovers a threat to her newfound magical community.null

Continue reading “Will Smith and David Oyelowo Team to Adapt ‘Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun’ for Netflix” →
Entertainment

Here are 10 of the most successful Kenyan actors in Hollywood 2020

by  Caiaphas Wanjala | TUKO

Who is the best actor in Kenya? With each dawn, more and more African actors and actresses are getting featured and earning a spotlight in Hollywood’s biggest movie and film industry. That said, several successful Kenyan actors in Hollywood have made a name for themselves due to their acting prowess.

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Entertainment

Why Netflix is a lifeline for African film-makers

The streaming giant’s ambitious initiative Made By Africa, Watched By the World is a welcome platform for the continent’s overlooked cinematic talent.

By Fred Onyango | The Guardian

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Entertainment

Djimon Hounsou Joins Tony Kaye’s ‘African History Y’

By Anthony D’Alessandro | DEADLINE

 Djimon Hounsou has boarded director Tony Kaye’s African History Y. The plot is being kept under wraps billed only as “a story of tragedy and redemption.” Charles Chanchori, Jason Corder and Kaye are writing. DeForrest Taylor, Marc Le Chat, Kaye and Raymond J. Markovich are producing.

Continue reading “Djimon Hounsou Joins Tony Kaye’s ‘African History Y’” →
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Solomon Onita Jr. | Dallas Filmmaker Spotlights the Immigrant Experience for West Africans

BY TODD JORGENSON  | dmagazine.com

There are the obvious political and bureaucratic obstacles. But for immigrants from West Africa in particular, sometimes the social challenges of relocation can be just as daunting. That’s the focus of Tazmanian Devil, the debut feature from Dallas filmmaker Solomon Onita Jr., which will premiere online this weekend as part of the prestigious American Black Film Festival.

Continue reading “Solomon Onita Jr. | Dallas Filmmaker Spotlights the Immigrant Experience for West Africans” →
Uncategorized

Greg Osayande Aghaze | Nigerian-American filmmaker who seeks to bridge the gap between Hollywood and Nollywood

By Vanguard

Greg Osayande Aghaze, is a Nigerian who has since committed himself to a filmmaking career in Hollywood. Having produced quite a number of award-winning movies in the American filmmaking industry, Aghaze is one whose career spanned across the world of finance and media entertainment.

Continue reading “Greg Osayande Aghaze | Nigerian-American filmmaker who seeks to bridge the gap between Hollywood and Nollywood” →
Movies, Opinion

In support of “Heart of Africa”

 BY DAN PETERSON | Patheos

I was heartbroken at what happened to the Latter-day Saint film Heart of Africa upon its debut on 13 March 2020.  That was the very day — Friday the thirteenth, no less — on which BYU classes were canceled for the first time because of the surging coronavirus pandemic.  (I remember the date very well, obviously, because it affected me directly and personally.) 

Continue reading “In support of “Heart of Africa”” →
Movies

A Girl From Mogadishu – Review by Donna Torrence

by Donna Torrence | Blackfilm.com

“I don’t want to be a victim. I want to be a voice,” says Ifrah Ahmed, who has become the voice and face of the fight to end female genital mutilation around the globe.  A Girl From Mogadishu, a powerful drama about Ahmed’s life and journey, made its US premiere on July 15th on Showtime and will continue to air during the summer.

Continue reading “A Girl From Mogadishu – Review by Donna Torrence” →
Movies

American Film Institute hosts global premiere of Kenyan Film THE LETTER

By Ebimo Amungo

A Kenyan produced film, “The Letter” has had its Virtual World Premiere after it was aired online at an event hosted by the American Film Institute on June 21. The coronavirus pandemic upended earlier plans to show the film in cinemas. The Letter was produced over the course of six years by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, a husband and wife team who live in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Movies

Congolese Director, Tshopher Kabambi’s dream realised with release of ‘Heart of Africa’

As a young man born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tshopher Kabambi dreamed of making movies. He is the director of “Heart of Africa”, the first Congolese-American production of its kind with a story that conveys Christian themes of brotherly love and overcoming prejudice.

By Trent Toone  

Continue reading “Congolese Director, Tshopher Kabambi’s dream realised with release of ‘Heart of Africa’” →
Uncategorized

Kenyan-born actor, Raymond Watanga, makes moves in Hollywood

By ELVIS ONDIEKI

A young Kenyan-American is trying hard to make an impression on the American movie industry. Raymond Watanga, 26, left Kenya in 2006 at the age of 12 with his mother and elder brother.

This was after his mother won the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery (Green Card) to live and work in the United States.

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Entertainment

Egyptian star Yousra honored by America Abroad Media

By Mira Maged

America Abroad Media (AAM) honored Egypt’s acclaimed star Yousra at its seventh edition during its annual dinner that took place in Washington, DC, celebrating the star’s artistic contributions that have presented Americans with remarkable representations of Egyptian history, according to the press release.

The statement applauded Yousra’s significant role in lifting taboos in Egyptian society and generating fruitful social dialogue. The award celebrates Yousra’s entire career.

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Opinion

An Oscars ban for a Nigerian film shows the Academy still doesn’t get it on race

By Afua Hirsch

The penny about the US’s worldview dropped for me when I recently interviewed a highly educated, accomplished, politically and racially literate American. I mentioned something about the British empire and he looked at me blankly. “What is that exactly?” he asked.#OscarsSoWhite: a 10-point plan for change by the hashtag’s creator

Excluding Lionheart for using English shows Africans are still expected to satisfy American ideas of authenticity.

Continue reading “An Oscars ban for a Nigerian film shows the Academy still doesn’t get it on race” →
Movies

‘Zulu Wedding’ Director Eager For South  Africans To See Movie

By Fatima Moosa

The Zulu Wedding is finally releasing in cinemas. The movie’s release has been delayed many times in the past two years. The movie is about Lu (Nondumiso Tembe) a dancer from South Africa who is currently working in America. She falls in love with Tex (Darrin Dewitt Henson). However, there’s a problem – Lu has been promised to marry a Zulu prince (Pallance Dladla). Returning home to South Africa with Tex, Lu has to navigate the complication that is her life. The Daily Vox team spoke to about the film’s director Lineo Sekeleoane. 

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Movies

The seminal Hollywood movie on apartheid South Africa and its pioneering black female director

By Nadia Neophytou

When Euzhan Palcy released the second film she’d ever made, A Dry White Season, in 1989, she wrote herself into the history of filmmaking, becoming the first black female filmmaker to helm a studio movie—one with big name actors and a budget to go along with it. It should have heralded a new era in her life, as a filmmaker of note, but it’s only now, 30 years later, that she looks set to return to her love of cinema.

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Entertainment

LUPITA NYONG’O TALKS BEING THE ‘VOICE OF GOD’ WHILE NARRATING THE MAJESTY OF ‘SERENGETI’ IN DISCOVERY CHANNEL NEW DOCUSERIES

BY JANICE WILLIAMS 

Viewers will soon be transported to the vast and magical grasslands of Africa when Discovery Channel’s new series, Serengeti, premieres on Sunday. The docuseries follows the heartwarming and harrowing tales of wildlife living within Tanzania’s largest national park.

Kenya native Lupita Nyong’o narrates the six-part series, produced by Emmy-winning filmmakers Simon Fuller and John Downer, who also directed the show.

Continue reading “LUPITA NYONG’O TALKS BEING THE ‘VOICE OF GOD’ WHILE NARRATING THE MAJESTY OF ‘SERENGETI’ IN DISCOVERY CHANNEL NEW DOCUSERIES” →
Festivals

African Diaspora Film Festival Returns to GW

by Eve M. Ferguson

The African Diaspora International Film Festival returns to the Marvin Center at George Washington University from Aug. 9-11, celebrating “the human experience of people of color around the world.”

This year showcases heroes of African diaspora history, from the opening night with “Ali’s Comeback: The Untold Story,” directed by Art Jones, to the closing night film, “The Robeson Effect,” in which actors Danny Glover and Ben Guillory, friends for more than 50 years, tell how actor Paul Robeson affected their lives, leading to the creation of the Robey Theater Company in Los Angeles.

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Uncategorized

Birdman is producing a Nigerian American filmmaker’s film, ‘Tazmanian Devil’

The partnership between Birdman and Solomon Onita to make a new film also has Benny Boom on board.

By Gbenga Bada

Nigerian American filmmaker, Solomon Onita Jr. has partnered with Cash Money’s Birdman for his new film, ‘Tazmanian Devil’.

Continue reading “Birdman is producing a Nigerian American filmmaker’s film, ‘Tazmanian Devil’” →
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The African Diaspora International Film Festival plays at Facets Chicago June 21 – 27

The 17th annual African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) will run from June 21 to 27 at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque (1517 W. Fullerton Ave.) Established in 1993, the ADIFF is a minority-led, not-for profit international gala that presents, interprets and educates about films that explore the human experience of people of color all over the world. Along the way, it inspires imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice.

Continue reading “The African Diaspora International Film Festival plays at Facets Chicago June 21 – 27” →
Movies

Egyptian movie wins 2 awards at Brooklyn Film Festival

The Egyptian movie “Between Two Seas” directed by Anas Tolba won the prize for the best narrative film and the Mariam Naoum Art Achievement Award at the end of the 22nd edition of the Brooklyn Film Festival, which ran from May 31 to June 9 in United States of America.

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Festivals

Africans v. African Americans Subject of Film Festival

Historical and recent migrations have resulted in the merging of cultures and shared experiences.

With its Migration Stories Film Series, the African Diaspora International Film Festival presents a rich palette of migration stories from around the world.

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Movies

Netflix acquires Senegalese Cannes Film Festival’s ‘Grand Prix’ winner

Netflix has signaled that Africa holds massive untapped potential for their expansion — and even Thierry Fremaux recognizes the continent is about to have a filmmaking explosion.

By Tambay Obenson

 Netflix has acquired worldwide rights (excluding China, Benelux, Switzerland, Russia, France) to French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop’s feature debut, the award winning “Atlantics,” which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Prix.

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Festivals, Movies

The 26th New York African Film Festival opens at Lincoln Center May 30 – June 4

By Wilson Morales

The 26th New York African Film Festival(NYAFF) kicks off at BAM Film on Thursday, May 23, and runs through Monday, May 27, as a part of BAM’s popular dance and music festival.

The popular festival includes 68 films of multiple genres from 31 countries across the diaspora, and is presented by FLC and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF).

Continue reading “The 26th New York African Film Festival opens at Lincoln Center May 30 – June 4” →
Entertainment

Egyptian-Canadian Mena Massoud is Aladdin, with Will Smith as Genie

Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud, who stars in the anticipated live action reboot of Aladdin alongside Will Smith, sent a dedicated message to his Egyptian fans on social media to express his pride of being Egyptian and encourage his fans to see it.

Titled ‘Egypt, this one’s for you!’, Massoud begins the video with “Oh Egyptian people, greetings!”

Continue reading “Egyptian-Canadian Mena Massoud is Aladdin, with Will Smith as Genie” →
Entertainment

Nigerian actress Folake Olowofoyeku plays lead role in new CBS show 

Here’s why this is such a big deal

By Inemesit Udodiong

CBS has ordered seven new series for the 2019–20 season. The lineup includes Chuck Lorre‘s sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola” starring Folake Olowofoyeku, Billy Gardell and Shola Adewusi.

It is a love story that sees a middle-aged compression sock businessman from Detroit, played by Gardell, fall for his cardiac nurse, a Nigerian immigrant played by Olowofoyeku.

Continue reading “Nigerian actress Folake Olowofoyeku plays lead role in new CBS show ” →
Movies

Ghanaian-American, Micheal Blankson, may get role in Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming to America’ Sequel?

By saanchi kaushik

The highly anticipated “Coming to America” sequel is well underway. Moreover, It seems as the original film’s leading man, Eddie Murphy, has seriously taken Akon’s suggestions. This to cast authentic African natives in the movie to heart. Continue reading “Ghanaian-American, Micheal Blankson, may get role in Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming to America’ Sequel?” →