IGIHE

Category: Entertainment

  • Rwandan Filmmaker Scoops Award at 2013 SVAFF

    Rwandan Filmmaker Scoops Award at 2013 SVAFF

    {{Gilbert Ndahayo, a US based Rwandan filmmaker scooped an award this weekend at 2013 Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF). Ndahayo won the “Best Documentary Film Award” for his second documentary film “The Rwandan Night” which had its world premiere at the annual film festival that was organized from October 11th to 13th, 2013.}}

    “I am delighted for the world premiere of my second documentary feature and it is an honor for me to fly high the Rwandan flag in one the world’s famous African film festival”, said the Rwandan filmmaker.

    The Silicon Valley African Film Festival is presented by Oriki Theatre at Community School of Music and Arts. The 2013 SVAFF opened on Friday, October 11 at 5:30pm with a reception and red carpet, followed by a parade of flags of the countries represented in the festival and a screening of the opening night film – the 2013 Cannes Vulcan Award winning film “GriGris” from Chad.

    Thirty-two films from Africa were screened among them three from Rwanda. The latter are “Chora Chora” that was directed by Richard Mugwaneza, Imbabazi – The pardon directed by Joel Karekezi and The Rwandan Night by Gilbert Ndahayo. Saturday October 12th, 2013 the festival was dominated by Rwandan cinema as the three films by Rwandan filmmakers were all scheduled to screen.

    The event was marked by the presence of Ms Yvette Rugasaguhunga,the second counselor of the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington D.C. “She had come to grace the film festival and support the films from Rwanda” said Gilbert.

    The presence of a Rwandan official was highly regarded by the festival organizers, which prompt them to award the Rwandan Embassy a trophy in recognition for supporting the Film Festival.

    Ms Yvette commended the efforts of SVAFF by bringing the true story of Africa to Silicon Valley. She was also a panelist in the forum “The African Women in Technology – a future of promise!”, organized on the sideline of the film festival.

    “It is no coincidence that women empowerment and technology are some of the key drivers of Rwanda’s political and socio-economical development,” noted the counselor of the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington D.C.

    Gilbert Ndahayo had two test screenings this year during the genocide commemoration events in Zurich (Switzerland) and Maine (USA) this spring. “I felt I can give it a shot and submit my film in 2013 SVAFF,” noted the Rwandan filmmaker.

    At Bates College this February, Professor Alexandre Dauge-Roth remarked, “Gilbert’s central part of the documentary is about a survivor who testifies against the genocide; and according to the American standards of film consumption, it can be called a long moment.” Gilbert Ndahayo explained that he wanted to put the chronology of the genocide on the screen.

    The 2013 Awards Winners were in seven categories among them the 2013 SVAFF Africa Reel Award Winner Newton Aduaka (Nigeria), 2013 Emerging Filmmaker Award for Sephora Woldu (Eritrea), 2013 Emerging Filmmaker Award for Chimwemwe Mkwezalamba (Malawi ), Narrative Feature Film Award Shemu Joyah (Malawi), Narrative Short Film Award for Tim Huebschle (Namibia), Documentary Short Film Award for Kurt Orderson (South Africa) and Documentary Feature Film Award for Gilbert Ndahayo (Rwanda).

    “The Rwandan Night” is a 97-min ethno-documentary that features the haunting memories of the oldest survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Both poetic and moving, Ndahayo’s use of original Rwandan music of commemoration, produces a vivid cinematic rendering of this unique voice forcefully testifying to the long ordeal of his people during so many decades before April 1994.

    “This happens to be the first time I work with fellow Rwandan artists. For instance the opening music ‘Nibarize’ (Tell Me) draws out of melodic whispering style which has long disappeared in Rwanda, but still in use in Burundi by ‘Inanga’ players (string instrument)” confessed the filmmaker in a statement issued at the release of his film.

    As African cinema is being appreciated overseas, there is a growing discussion on the creation of the East African Film Commission.

    The debate is championed by the Zanzibar International Film Festival in collaboration with filmmakers from East Africa and the diaspora. It is still too early to talk more about the commission but the body will help to promote East African cinematic culture.

  • ‘Toklezea’ artiste Chantelle ditches secular life for Christ!

    ‘Toklezea’ artiste Chantelle ditches secular life for Christ!

    {{Songstress Chantelle of the Toklezea fame is now a born again Christian. The artiste who is said to have married her video director boo J Blessings sometime this year decided to choose the Christian path and leave the secular life behind. Her new husband must have had some positive influence on her.}}

    Chantelle follows in the footsteps of artistes Size 8, Ray C and Lady Bee who have all chosen to fully accept Christ in their life.

    capitalFM

  • ’12 Years A Slave’ wins best picture in Toronto

    ’12 Years A Slave’ wins best picture in Toronto

    British filmmaker Steve McQueen’s “12 Years A Slave” won the audience prize for best picture at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

    The film, already generating Oscars buzz, is based on a firsthand account of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, recalling the horrors of grueling labor, daily humiliation and families torn apart.

    Its premiere in Toronto last week received a standing ovation, as well as sobs, while some in the audience left early over the film’s graphic portrayal of unspeakable torture of slaves during this period in history.

    The story is “a gift from the past to open a discussion, not about race, particularly, but about human dignity and our freedoms and what we most require in the world,” said actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Northup.

    “And the only way to really open that discussion is to see all sides of it.”

    The film also stars Michael Fassbender as a cruel plantation owner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams and Alfre Woodard.

    McQueen said he made the film because he wanted to connect with this period in American history.

    “I wanted to see images from that particular past. I wanted to experience it through images,” he said.

    The Toronto film festival, which ran from September 5, showcased 366 feature films, including 146 world premieres.

    Though it does not award jury prizes like at Cannes or Venice, the Toronto film festival has traditionally been a key event for Oscar-conscious studios and distributors, and attracts hundreds of filmmakers and actors to its red carpet.

    This year’s lineup included celebrities such as Colin Firth, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet and Jennifer Aniston.

    In past years, “The King’s Speech,” “American Beauty” and “Chariots of Fire” won Oscars for best picture after Toronto audiences gave them a nod.

    {Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o}

  • Bebe Cool Jets in for ‘Uteye Ubusambo’ Concert

    Bebe Cool Jets in for ‘Uteye Ubusambo’ Concert

    {{Popular Ugandan artist Bebe Cool has arrived in Rwanda where he is expected to brace the “Uteye ubusambo” concert by Uncle Austin a Rwandan artist.}}

    Bebe Cool has jetted in for the Friday concert in collaboration with MTN-Rwanda.

    The Ugandan artist promised his fans a better performance unlike in the previous performances which the musician says were time bareed.

    Uncle Austin told reporters that he is impressed by the presence Bebe Cool performing at the concert which he says will be very interesting.

    {Bebe Cool and Uncle Austin at Kigali International Airport}

    {Bebe Cool answers questions from Journalists}

    {Bebe’s stylish blue Shoes}

  • Sony Music International signs Rwandan singer Somi

    {{Last week, internationally acclaimed soul-jazz vocalist and songwriter Somi signed to Sony Music’s newly relaunched historic jazz imprint Okeh Records, making her the first East African artist to join the major label’s roster.}}

    This news follows the ambitious singer’s recent return from an 18-month creative sabbatical in Lagos, Nigeria. Originally from East Africa, Somi was raised in Illinois, USA and currently resides in New York City.

    Driven by her own curiosity and the fiery energy of the West African metropolis, Somi’s first release on the major label will be an album she calls “The Lagos Music Salon” – a collection of profound story-based songs inspired by her time in Nigeria.

    Sony will release the new album in early 2014 as the highly anticipated follow up to Somi’s critically-acclaimed last studio album, If the Rain Comes First (ObliqSound, 2009) which featured her legendary music mentor Hugh Masekela as a special guest and which both debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Music charts and landed in the Top 20 Soul/R&B albums on Amazon.com.

    Not only an accomplished musician and performer, Somi is an arts scholar and cultural activist who holds a Master’s Degree in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and who has earned the distinction of being named a TED Global Fellow, an inaugural Association of Performing Arts Presenters Fellow, a recognized songwriter at the American Society of Composers and Publishers, and a recipient of numerous international arts grants.

    She is also the founder of New Africa Live, an award-winning non-profit organization committed to “carving out a cultural space of belonging for contemporary African artists through events that entertain, educate, and create awareness of the value of African culture in a globalized world.”

    Somi’s full name is Laura Kabasomi Kakoma. She is the daughter of the late Dr. Ibulaimu Kakoma and Mrs. Elizabeth Nyarubona Kakoma; Somi is half mnyarwanda, half mutooro.

    {{High praise for Somi:}}

    “Superb!” – Vogue Magazine

    “All elegance and awe…utterly captivating!” – Billboard Magazine

    “[Somi] glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism!” – The Boston Globe

    “At the forefront of a new roster of African artists … effortlessly blends her global and sonic experiences.” – Essence Magazine

    “Prodigious musical chops employed in the service of some savvy songwriting. [Somi] unites the familiar with the exotic… A potent brew from the first sip to the last drop!”– NPR All Things Considered

    “A world music luminary!” – The New Yorker

    “One of the most promising voices of emerging African artists.”
    – New York Daily News

  • Uganda-India Movie Showing Soon

    {{River Nile Motion Pictures, a feature film Production Company focusing on local content for the Indian and Ugandan media market, recently wrapped up a 120 minutes film shot entirely in Uganda.}}

    The crime thriller titled Escape from Uganda is said to have cost well over a million dollars.

    This film is about a middle class Indian family living in Kampala who is thrown into mayhem when the housewife finds herself involved in a murder plot. Shika Samuel (played by Indian National Award winner Rima Kallingal) follows her dream of making dresses and opens a boutique at Garden City.

    Little did she know that she would be faced with a conspiracy and later charged with the murder of her close friend and the Mayor’s daughter, Audrey. Husband, Jay Krishnan (played by Vijaay Babu) attempts to secure her release from Luzira Maximum Security Prison and her subsequent escape orchestrated by “well-wisher” (Award Winning Tamil star Partiban) from the Indian community.

    Founded by Girisch Nair, Rajesh Nair and Gautam Nair, River Nile Motion Picture did not hesitate to involve re-known Ugandan actors like Michael Wawuyo, Wilberforce Mutete, Sam Bagenda, Anita Kyarimpa (Miss Uganda first runner-up) and Brenda Nanyonjo (the lady behind Miss Uganda today)

    Slated for an October release in India and thereafter a Ugandan premiere in the same month, this film has been filmed in 7 languages including English, Swahili, Luganda and Malayalam. And as such, it will be distributed in over 2,300 movie theatres in India and across Africa with the Swahili and English versions aggressively distributed across Sub Sahara Africa.

    NV

  • Pakistan’s new Cartoon Superheroine to go Global

    {{A TV distribution company in Europe is in touch with the producers of the Pakistani animation show for children “Burqa Avenger” to arrange its screening in 60 countries, including French-speaking nations, according to a press interview with the series’ creator.}}

    The plan to take this Urdu-language cartoon series on the global stage highlights the international appeal of Jiya, aka “Burqa Avenger”, a mild-mannered teacher at day who turns into a superhero at night to fight local gangsters who are trying to shut down the girls’ school where she works.

    Armed with mere books and pens, the ‘caped crusader’ takes on Baba Bandook, a misogynist Taliban-like villain, and Vadero Pajero, a corrupt politician trying to pocket NGO money meant to fund the local girls’ school.

    Jiya’s adventures touched a sensitive chord in Pakistan, where almost three quarters of young girls are not enrolled in primary school, according to UN and government statistics published last year.

    The issue of girls’ education in northwest Pakistan exploded across world headlines last October when Taliban gunmen shot Malala Yousafzai, a teenaged female activist for women’s rights and education.

    {{Batman & burka}}

    The flowing black burqa, the super-dress of choice for the Pakistani TV series ninja-like heroine, has also caught the world’s attention because the outfit is traditionally seen as an instrument of oppression of women, especially in the West.

    The show’s artistic director, Yousaf Ejaz, told AFP that his inspiration came from his childhood: “I was a big fan of Batman, and my grandmother, she had a burqa (…) So back in the childhood when she was away, we would steal her burqa and act like Batman, wearing that burqa: ‘I am Batman, look at me!’”

    Despite its overwhelmingly positive message, the show triggered a lively debate in Pakistan’s English language press about whether Jiya’s choice of disguise was a sign of empowerment or a means of promoting something used to oppress women.

    Slamming what she called a “ridiculous Burqa Avenger backlash”, Pakistani columnist Faiza S. Khan wrote that the show was not glorifying the burqa, but merely using it as part of a typical superhero creation myth.

    “When we ignore the character’s intentions behind willingly adopting a burka (as a disguise), it brings us back to good old-fashioned patriarchy, whereby a woman’s decisions are dwarfed by whatever message her clothing is putting out,” wrote Khan in the Daily Beast.

    Plans are afoot to translate the show into at least 18 different languages.

    Source: {France24 }

  • New Movie to Depict Rwanda’s Liberation War

    {{Reports from Hollywood, US indicate that a new movie on the 1990-1994 Rwanda Liberation War is in its advanced production stages.}}

    Rwanda’s Hillywood and Hollywood have teamed up to produce the motion picture that chronicles events that characterised the struggle by the RPF/A to liberate the country from decades of misrule.

    Eric Kabera, the head of Hillywood, one of the producers of the movie, said they will soon start shooting the movie, that is to be titled, Before and After.

    Kabera told {The New Times}, “The script is done and we would be getting a line producer to break down the budget as we plan to secure the finances. This will take another six more months before we know the date of the shooting.”

    Adam Leipzig, an American film and theatre producer, film executive and writer, is one of the proposed film producers alongside Kabera.

  • BBA: Tanzanian Feza booted out of The Chase

    {{The 20th housemate to be sent home, revealed on Sunday’s live eviction show, was Tanzania’s Feza.}}

    Gracefully accepting how Africa voted, Feza hugged her fellow housemates immediately after the announcement was made.

    Feza only managed to win votes from four countries, putting her in a tie with Cleo. However Feza had a lower average percentage across all of those countries. The pretty Dillish managed to lead with seven countries declaring their support for her.

    Feza leaves behind eleven weeks in the Big Brother House and her dreams of winning the grand prize of USD $300,000.

    Since Feza’s countryman Nando was suddenly disqualified, Feza’s departure marks the end of Tanzania’s quest for Big Brother supremacy.

    wirestory

  • 46th Blankets & Wine features Ugandan Maurice Kirya, Burundi’s Kidum

    {{Bring out your fashionable outfits, whip out your sunglasses, pack your picnic baskets and join us for the FAB edition of Blankets & Wine this August 4th at the Carnivore Gardens from 1pm to 7pm and the after-party at the Carnivore Simba Saloon thereafter.}}

    For this 46th edition of East Africa’s premier music event we bring you an all round East African lineup comprising some of the most talented musicians in the region.

    Peter Nyabuto, ia budding performer with a rich sound and a captivating live act, will be opening.

    He will be joined by the graceful Amileena Mwenesi with her urbane flavor and the refined Maurice Kirya from Uganda presenting his critically acclaimed, just released album ‘The Book of Kirya’.

    Rounding off our East African musical buffet this August will be the wholesome Kidum from Burundi who makes a return to the Blankets & Wine stage after his last appearance in November 2012.

    In depth: Maurice Kirya

    Maurice Kirya a multiple award winning Ugandan artist has been in the industry for more than 10 years doing what he does best, singing and song writing.

    Known for his enormous talent and unique style of Music that he prefers to call “Mwooyo” or Soul, Maurice Kirya released his maiden album in late 2009 after many years of anticipation.

    The Album was an instant success selling both locally and internationally with numerous copies via iTunes, CD baby and Reverbnation.

    It was the same album that won Maurice the 2010 RFI Discoveries award beating over 500 Artists across Africa.

    Kirya is also known as the Ugandan “King of Mwooyo,” which is now a household name in the Ugandan music industry as a unique breed of Artist. After a very successful year, he then settled down and took a break to put together another album, ‘The Book of Kirya.’