CNN’s ‘African Voices’ profiles Nigerian filmmaker, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe ...As she talks about her passion, Nollywood industry and impact on Nigeria
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| Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Nigerian filmmaker and founder of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMMA) |
CNN’s African Voices (airs Friday: 0730; Saturday: 0230; Sunday: 0800, 0530; Monday: 0930,
0430; Tuesday: 0430), a weekly show
that highlights Africa's most engaging personalities, will this week feature
Nigerian filmmaker and founder of
the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMMA), Peace
Anyiam-Osigwe.
After
working on several movies and documentaries in Nigeria's film industry,
popularly known as Nollywood, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe founded the Africa Movie
Academy Awards in 2005. The awards have since grown into one of the most
prestigious film award shows on the continent, changing the way Nigerians are
seen around the world. Her passion is film; and by turning that passion into a
mission, she has given the African continent a voice on the big screen.
Speaking on issues of film-making in Nigeria and the idea behind AMAA, Osigwe said, “When I first came back to Nigeria, I realized that the biggest issue with us as filmmakers was the lack of acknowledgement and actually celebrating ourselves for the work that we do. And Nollywood was not being given the recognition that it deserved at the time,” she said.
She
had her own talk show when she came home from the UK and started making films.
The said the following about her experience, “It was like little groups of us
just doing what we wanted to do. We finally set up a group called the
Filmmakers Incorporated of Nigeria and got Corporate Nigeria looking at what
this business entailed as a business. We then started having little things that
made people come to recognize the stardom and the heros we created through
Nollywood films.”
Nollywood
is one of the most popular industries in Nigeria. It’s a massive
money-maker that has thrown Africa’s most populous country into the spotlight.
A big
part of Nollywood's prestige comes from the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).
Nollywood films are seen all over the African continent and in many of parts of
the world, but breaking into Hollywood is the next big step. 2013 was the ninth
year of the annual awards show and saw a return to its usual host city Bayelsa
in southern Nigeria after being held in Lagos last year.
This
week on African Voices, hear her inspiring story, as she works to elevate
Nollywood and African film to the next level.
For more information, viewers
can visit www.cnn.com/africanvoices; the show’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/
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