By Dipo Olowookere
The first movie review platform in Africa with focus on all African movies, Afri Reviews, has called for collaboration.
Co-Founder of the platform, Anita Abada, made this call on Monday afternoon in Lagos when she explained what the platform was about.
According to her, Afri Reviews was borne out of the desire to create a platform where movies made on the continent and its actors can be celebrated and evaluated.
“The West have Rotten Tomatoes, Imdb, Variety, Metacritic and a host of other review platforms that showcase the best and worst of Hollywood. Africa has none of these. Does this mean that there are no exceptional movies made in Africa? Are we saying Africa has no brilliant actors? What Afri Reviews wants to do is to expose these movies. We want to bring out the best of Africa and show to the world,” she said.
James Ogunjimi, Co-Founder also chipped in. “Look, Africa has Nollywood which is second in the world. We have Ghallywood, Joziwood, Lolliwood, Wakaliwood, Ugawood, Somaliwood and a host of movie industries churning out movies every day.
“We want to showcase these movies. We want Africans and the world to know of these movies beyond their individual countries and to review them right here on our platform. Short films, documentaries, animations, we want to show them to the world.”
“We want people who can go to the cinemas in their countries and write honest reviews. What about TV series? With the number of shows airing daily, you have to wonder why no one is talking about them. We want to do this,” he said.
Ms Abada concluded by inviting reviewers and those enthusiastic about the African movie industry and who can write from an African perspective to send a mail to the platform.
“Our email is: [email protected] for those who want to join the team. In whatever capacity, send us a mail and we’ll respond. This is an African project and we are confident that there are enough willing Africans to execute it,” she said.
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