Actors Guild of Nigeria hosts international film festival in US

A line-up of over 70 Nollywood stars are expected to attend the festival.

The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) says it plans to hold an international festival in Miami, Florida, to create network for Nollywood actors with their global colleagues.

National President of AGN, Emeka Rollas, who disclosed this on Tuesday at a news conference in Lagos, said the festival would be done in partnership with the African Travel Film Festival.

According to him, the essence of the festival is to create networking platform for Nollywood actors with their global colleagues

"We will be touring the Telemundo studio in Miami; we will also be exploring the beaches of Miami in a boat cruise as well as get more knowledge through masterclasses on filmmaking," Rollas said.

He added that the festival would hold in Miami, Florida , from November 9 to November 11, to spur cross-cultural collaborations in filmmaking.

According to him, this is deliberately designed to further expose Nollywood actors to casting directors and producers across the globe which will breed cross cultural collaborations in filmmaking.

Rollas said that the collaboration would go a long way in benefiting the nation economically and further put Nigeria on the global stage.

Also speaking, Dr Alex Okoroji, Chairman, Organising Committee for the festival, said that the guild was excited to be hosting the festival in Miami.

According to her, this is because the city remains a vibrant cultural scene with a large population of Nigerian and African immigrants.

Okoroji said that the theme for the festival is The future of Nollywood Actors in the Global Economy.

"This festival will be a celebration of the brightest Nigerian film and television actors and it will feature a wide range of events.

"The events include a red carpet gala and awards, film screenings, panel discussions, city tours, workshops and seminars.

"Actors, filmmakers, and other creative professionals can network and learn from each other as well as meet and engage with their fans and supporters in the diaspora," she said.

According to her, the official hosts for the event would be Nancy Isime and Joseph Benjamin.

She said there was already a line-up of over 70 Nollywood stars that would be attending the festival as it remained open for interested actors.

"We believe that the festival will be a great opportunity to showcase Nigerian talents to a global audience and promote cultural understanding, fostering the bilateral ties between Nigeria and US.

"We are grateful to the African Travel Film Festival for partnering with us on this project and supporting our mission to showcase Nollywood actors to the world.

"This affords actors the opportunities to network, learn from some of the best in the business. We will also be celebrating the incredible talent and creativity of our actors."

According to her, we believe that the festival is an important event for not only the guild, but the entire Nigerian film industry.

"It will be a great opportunity to build relationships with international filmmakers and producers as well as promote our arts and culture and some of Nigeria’s biggest brands," she said.

Okoroji expressed the guild’s readiness to partner with any of the Nigerian brands that are willing as they would also benefit from the entire projects.

Earlier, former national president of AGN, Segun Arinze, commended the efforts of the guild for planning to organise such a laudable festival. He said this would encourage the actors as many of the Nollywood actors had left the country in search of better means of livelihood.