Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria will be hosting entertainment and creative industry key stakeholders from Africa, United States, Germany and the world at large for the Inside Nollywood International Film Festival and Awards (INIFFAA) holding from Thursday, 15th to Saturday 17th February, 2024.
The Inside Nollywood CEO, Muoma Obinna, who made the announcement during a Press Briefing on Tuesday at the Rollins Hotel and Tower, Abuja said the festival will strengthen global bonds within film community, makers, producers, industry leaders from Nigeria and around the world for the culturally enriching event.
This year festival marks significant milestone as Inside Nollywood commemorates its ten- year journey of fostering original expression and contributing to the evolution of the Nigerian film industry.
According to the Obinna, “For this past 10 years, Inside Nollywood has been at the forefront of promoting original stories, being the power hall, analysing quality of production, the data of premiere Africa and the Nollywood Nigeria while this is not just about the festival but our whole achievements to date, how we’ve changed the narrative of Nollywood since 2014”.
He announced that the key stakeholders are coming in to Abuja from Germany, South Africa, United States and the world at large, while Inside Nollywood Boss appreciated his sponsors who have been there throughout the journey, most especially the Rollins hotel and the media partners too.
“Now we have attracted alot of investors that are willing to sponsor Nollywood projects to the next level and reason being that our producers have great investment ideas and embracing cultural roots by partnering with Indigenous Sport Week Abuja to showcase the dynamic and traditional sport of Dambe”, Obinna stated.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s festival: “Celebration of Original Expression”, the Award-winning Nigerian actor who is also the Ambassador for the event, Nonso Diobi said the Inside Nollywood has been at the four walls of the world for decade, telling its original stories to inspire alot of countries, Africa and beyond.
Diobi said, “I believe this is time to open up our market to the world, we are ripe for international collaboration and for other huge network, studio, creative coming to Nigeria to fraternize with us, to collaborate with us. We are ready to take what we’re doing to the next level.
The Actor pressed further that he has been very much hungry to be part of such an endeavor like this (the festival) because he has seen people like him in the past took up such martyr to push the industry forward which prompted his decision to join Inside Nollywood.
According to him, “This is why I accepted the invitation to be Ambassador of this historical event, the face of the festival, the voice who will bring together people from all over africa and all over the world to Nigeria, Abuja in a couple of days while I’m excited because we’ve proven to the world in all ratification that Nigerians are great people”.
He emphasized that Inside Nollywood is not trying to host this event out of personal gain or out of the decision to enrich themselves. “We decided that it’s time to come together and take the industry to the next level, so glad to be part of it and trust me, bringing the aged old conversation that have been long avoided, the Creative Industry Economy”, Diobi said.
The Actor added that Entertainment industry has directly or indirectly provided jobs for thousand of youths out there including him, saying “it is about time we get into business proper, it is about time we have platform that encourage everybody to come closer. The Festival is design for you to understand how entertainment works”, he said.
Also speaking at the Press Conference is Prince Ugochukwu Ifeanyi, the President of Thands Foundation, Mr Emmanuel Amoo, Project Manager, Indigenous Sport Week, Abuja, Mr Uzochukwu Okenwa, Partner, John Susai, GM, The Rollins Hotel and Mr George Ogonyi, GM, IC World Center.
Media Bypass News reports earlier that INIFFAA 2024 promises to be a celebration of outstanding Nollywood films, providing a coveted platform for filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals to gain recognition for their remarkable contributions.
The diverse categories include Best Actor, Best Actress, Most Controversial Movie, Best Film Distribution Company, and more, showcasing the diversity and creativity within the Nigerian film industry.