By Dipo Olowookere
Two Nigerian movies, ‘The Wedding Party’ and ‘76’ have been announced as joint winners of the 2017 NollywoodWeek Public Choice Award.
The festival trophy was given to Mr Izu Ojukwu, the Director of 76 and Mr Moses Babatope who represented the film in the absence of the film Director, Kemi Adetiba in a closing ceremony that was followed by the World Premiere screening of Ctach[dot]er by the Director Walter Taylaur.
“I was not expecting this award. It’s an honour for me and for everybody who worked on the film,” said Mr Ojukwu.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Babatope expressed his joy at winning this award and mentioned that it was a good omen as the production of The Wedding Party 2 had just begun in Lagos and Dubai.
The high quality of the selected films for this 5th edition has been praised by journalists and film critics. Eleven films in total were shown during the four days of the festival, including five films in competition: Dinner, Gidi Blues, Green White Green, The Wedding Party and 76.
Nadira Shakur, the Director of Communication and co-founder of the festival said that “The festival has really cemented its place in the Parisian cultural calendar. Each year we try to offer the very best of Nollywood to the Parisian public by bringing the newest developments in the industry. This year we screened a web-series from REDTV and for the first time, an animated short film from Anthill Studios called Play-Thing.”
The selection of the 2017 edition of NollywoodWeek was rich and eclectic. The Public Choice Award ultimately went to two very different films but both have left an indelible mark on the Nigerian cinema landscape over the past year.
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