Africa in Pictures
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Commentary
Discussing cellphone filmmaking in Africa
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SA's White Wedding
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On District 9
On District 9 & the African sense of self.
On Mark of Uru
A look at an inspiring Nigerian animation.
> Omelihu Nwanguma working on set of film
> Making up for the final scene of the film
> On set of the Areaboys short film
The sound of a roaring motorcycle interrupts the pitch-black screen, “Okada! Okada!” a man’s voice screams in Pidgin English, the credit fades in, it’s the bustling Nigerian commercial city, Lagos.
Again the screen goes pitch-black, ‘Areaboys’ the title appears.
This is the starting sequence of the acclaimed short film Areaboys, which premiered at London African film festival two years ago, but Areaboys is making a new come back as a feature film – courtesy of the hugely successful Hollywood’s studios, Focus Features.
Focus Features & Areaboys
The film, Areaboys won a development contract with Focus Features’ new short film programme called Africa First. The programme aims to support African films aspiring to tell good stories in new and refreshing ways.
Awarding five emerging African filmmakers the sum of $10,000 to use towards the pre-production, production, or post-production of their films, Focus Features hopes their support will in turn contribute to the development of local film industries across Africa.
This has been a very welcomed surprise for Areaboy’s director, Omelihu Nwanguma, who is very philosophical about things saying, “When you are doing what you are meant to do, everything will fall into place,” …“Doors just open up.”
“Dreams can come true”
Unfortunately not many other African filmmakers are accustomed to having doors welcoming and offering them quality assistance. Institutions like Focus Features are non-existent in Africa - were grassroot entrepreneurship is the sole means of film funding and the film, Areaboys prior to Focus Features support was not an exception.
“I remember the director, Mel coming to me saying we don’t have any money,” Areaboys screenwriter Oladipo Agbolaje recalls. “But then he said, we will make something I will be proud of and I thought, why not?”
This is the kind of attitude aspiring filmmakers across Africa take towards producing the beautiful films coming out of the continent. It only highlights the need for more opportunities and support along the lines of what Focus Features is offering through its Africa First initiative.
Arise, Africa’s leading global style and culture magazine, sees this as a pivotal moment for cinema in Africa, thanks to rising demand from African’s in Diaspora, as well as people seeking alternative cinema.
This is important because African films are finally getting recognition outside its continent, and this is the first step towards not just succeeding as filmmakers but also helping to develop a strong local film industry built on good story telling.
African filmmakers have proved many a times that they do know how to make a good film, and if more doors were opened to foster international collaborations - the art of filmmaking using African aesthetics could be taken to greater heights.
> Screenshot from the short film, Areaboys written by Oladipo Agboluaje
By Chinaka Iwunze | Photo by shot2bits@mac.com
Areaboys, the short film : An African movie's fairytale
