African Film Academy Awards To Hit London

There is palpable excitement in Nollywood as the city of London prepares to host this year’s edition of the annual ZAFAA Global awards amid glitz and grandeur. This year’s event, a three-day affair, SHOWBIZPLUSng exclusively gathered has been scheduled to begin on Thursday, November 6 and climaxes on Saturday, 8, with the awards night at the deluxe Grange Hotel, St. Paul.


The duo of Klint Da Drunk and Princess Deun will anchor this year’s gathering. It will be preceded by a business/investment forum, youth education and empowerment seminar at the BFI Imax. Meanwhile, the nomination party is expected to hold in Nigeria this October.

However, in a bid to ensure that Nollywood/Ghallywood and other African enthusiasts all over the world are given the best, the British Film Institute (BFI) and Nollywood Entertainment Limited UK, (owners of ZAFAA), Nigerian Television Authority and the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board have finalized agreements to conduct a professional youth training programme in November at the BFI, London.Prince Sam Anwuzia, CEO of Nollywood Entertainment Limited, United Kingdom and President of the African Film Festival and Academy Awards (ZAFAA), who confirmed this in a statement after meeting with officials of the BFI in London, disclosed that the training targeted at youths will hold alongside the 2014 ZAFAA Global Awards. According to Anwuzia: “With the professional training at the BFI more stars will emerge in the near future, thereby giving the established stars a good run for their money.” Anwuzia, also disclosed that since the academy is entering a new phase aimed at continuous promotion of African arts and culture by telling her stories with pictures, established actors, aspiring actresses, producers and emerging youths will be taken through the rudiments of the industry during the programme. Interested members of the industry and youths who want to be part of the training are advised to visit the ZAFAA website and follow the link to fill the form and pay for the programme. Interestingly, to ensure that only the best of African films are honored during the awards, the British Film Institute has already confirmed the screening of all the entries for this year’s award, since the closure of entries for the different categories in June.

After complaints that African films shot, recorded and produced outside the shores of the continent are not given adequate credit and recognition, ZAFAA has classified this year’s awards into categories: home, away and Diaspora. After series of meetings to harmonize the events, the ZAFAA officials in London and Nigeria, explained that it is more sensible to classify Nollywood and other African countries in one category for the indigenous and one for the Africans in Diaspora.

The organisers said: “Although, there are some of the movies with known faces from home, we concluded that to be fair and also encourage the aspiring stars in the United Kingdom other European countries and the Americas, it would be appropriate to categories and equally recognize and give them their right of place.”

The speakers and participants at this year’s seminar, are to be drawn from accomplished African and international filmmakers/directors from Hollywood, Bollywood, Oscars, BAFTA, BFI and Nollywood. Partners for this year’s edition of ZAFAA Global Awards include: The Presidency, through the Office of the Special Adviser on Ethics and Values, the British Film Institute (BFI), the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). The event will be beamed live on NTA International, BEN TV and other international television stations around the world. ZAFAA Global Awards has been endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, the Actors Guild of Guild and the Senate Committee on Culture, Tourism and National Orientation.

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