Snapshots from AFRIFF 2

Here's Pakistani actor Adnan Siddiqui in the departure lounge of the Port Harcourt airport on December 5. He's in an upcoming film with Morgan Freeman directed by Clint Eastwood, 'The Athlete', coming out in the new year (great to hear of another onscreen partnership between Eastwood and Freeman, after 'Unforgiven' and 'Million Dollar Baby').

There were lots of actresses in the hall but most kept a low profile, leaving Rita Dominic to play the belle of the ball in the front row. At one point, P-Square came down from the stage to sing to her alone. And she was game, getting up to dance. After that, she hardly sat down. Although P-Square was so good, the whole hall was up dancing by the end of their set.

Here's Nollywood actress Dakore Egbuson, co-host on the night, dancing to P-Square on the side-aisle.

Here's me and African American actor Rockmond Dunbar at the AFRIFF award gala on December 4. Dunbar was the festival's special guest along with Malcolm Jamal Warner (I couldn't look at him without thinking: Theo!). Both were seated way in front with Rita Dominic, and presented an award as well as being featured in many of co-host IK's wisecracks, and Dunbar was very good at playing along. IK said he hated Dunbar because his wife was totally into the man. So later when IK asked if Dunbar was married, the actor replied to much laughter in the audience: "I'm not married, but tell your wife I said Hello" - to which IK had no comeback. It was a long night and Malcolm Jamal Warner made a quiet exit almost an hour before the end of the show. But Rockmond Dunbar totally got into the groove (he wants to collaborate with Nollywood filmmakers and everything), left his special seat and joined the AFRIFF group (Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Chioma Ude, Ilaria Chessa and co) on the front side aisle, dancing the night away as P-Square brought the house down. I went up to take his picture and ended up posing for a shot with him. The next day I sent a text to my son to ask: "Do you know the actor Rockmond Dunbar from 'Prison Break'?" The reply was swift: "Benjamin a.k.a C-Note". And so because some young man somewhere thinks it's cool, I'm posting this picture.

Snapshots from AFRIFF

3 outstanding scripts from Tyger Williams' lab were selected for AFRIFF's Script-to-Screen project. Pictured here with Williams (in white) are, from left, Adeyemi Ayoyemi Adeniyi (for 'One Window'), Abiola Hameed ('Task') and Iliyasu Kassim (for 'Tsangaya'). They will be assisted with funding by the festival organisation to turn their scripts into short films that will be shown at next year's AFRIFF.

Tyger Williams wrote the script for 'Menace II Society', a fact that made me go 'Wow!' when I discovered. In the background is Soledad Grognett, Technical Director of the First African Film Festival. Along with Sandra Obiago and Jahman Anikulapo, I was on the Scriptwriting Advisory Board for AFRIFF. Our task was to select the 12 short scripts that made it into Tyger Williams' scriptwriting lab, which he taught for 3 days.

Actress Omoni Oboli, last seen in Kunle Afolayan's The Figurine, is out with a new film, 'Anchor Baby'. She's seen here with the film's director, Lonzo Nzekwe. 'Anchor Baby was shown at AFRIFF. It premieres in Lagos on December 9 and opens to the public on the 10th.

After the screening of the festival's opening film 'Relentless' on December 2, its stars, Gideon Okeke and Nneka Egbuna sit down for a Q&A with Kunle Afolayan and the film's director, Andy Amadi Okoroafor.

Blogging as a bourgeois pipe dream

Hello, patient blog readers, who have watched uncomplainingly while Wordsbody took a long snooze.

The failure to update this blog is never intentional. It's just that Lagos life throws a lot of challenges in one's way, like you get home and there's no light and you have to power your generator, which breaks down sometimes, leaving you clutching in the dark for rechargable torches or candles. Other times, there's no fuel because you've exhausted your supply or there's a fuel crisis. At times you get home very late at night after battling through traffic. Or you've paid for a month's unlimited internet supply and it just won't connect or it will take till tomorrow morning to upload the smallest file. At times like this, the furthest thing from your mind is the updating of a blog.

What am I trying to say? In the unending struggles of day-to-day existence in Nigeria, blogging can become a bourgeois pipe dream...

Lagos is an amazing city and there's always stuff happening on the arts scene there. One never has enough body or legs to make all the events. Like last Saturday I attended two art exhibtion openings: Resurgence, a two-man show by artists Gbenga Ajiboye and Ayoola Mudasiru at the Wangbojes Gallery in Ikoyi; and Ablode by Beninoise artist Midahuen Yves (known as Midy for short) at Quintessence. After the exhibitions I caught a play, Ahmed Yerima's 'Little Drops', produced by Lufodo Productions in collaboration with TW Magazine (Tosan Edremoda-Ugbeye, Joke Silva, Ropo Ewenla and Kate Henshaw-Nuttal gave their all in the play, which is about the plight of women in the Niger Delta crisis). Earlier in the week, November 22, I was at the ArtHouse Contemporary auction at the Civic Centre when Demas Nwoko's sitting wood sculpture of 'The Wise Man' went for a cool 9 million naira. Gotta love it. There was a hush as the bidding went into 5, 6, 7 million; and we all clapped when the hammer went down. Exciting stuff, and it happens in Lagos every day - pity one can't blog it all.

For a fortnight however, it seems many are going Rivers way, myself included. I'm posting this from Port Harcourt and my internet modem is cooperating. Above is the view of Port Harcourt from my sixth floor balcony at the Hotel Presidential.

I'm attending the Africa International Film Festival, which started on December 1 and ends tomorrow.
Taking over will be the Garden City Literary Festival which will have in attendance Wole Soyinka, J.M.G Le Clezio, Helon Habila and scores of others (December 8 to 11).
After that will be the CARNIRIV, Rivers State's own carnival, from December 13 to 18. I'm here till the close of the Garden City Literary Festival at least. I'll have to read about the carnival.