Four for Berlinale Talents Programme
It is not every one who makes critical remarks on movies that is qualified to be called a film critic. That’s the point scored by the organisers of the 2015 Berlin Film Festival when four Nigerians were selected to participate in the just-concluded international event, Berlinale Talents Programme. The four-man team includes Adekunle Nodash Adejuyigbe, Tope Oshin-Ogun, Eric Aghimien and Oris Aigbokhaevbolo. Berlinale, for short, is the annual summit and networking platform of the Berlin International Film Festival for 300 emerging players in the film industry across the world. These include directors, producers, actors, editors, cinematographers, film critics among others.
Initiated in 2003 by the Berlin Film Festival, these film professionals are enrolled into project labs and studios and mentored by established practitioners. Expectedly, the project laboratories aid the filmmakers in developing documentaries, scripts and shorts. Studios, which include acting, editing, sales units, provide selected participants with cutting-edge filmmaking techniques. An international jury selects eight young film critics, called the Talent Press, from around the world to report on events during the festival and review films.
This year, the Berlinale Talents programme which began on February 5 was wrapped on February 12 while the film festival itself ended last Sunday. Of these four Nigerian participants, Aigbokhaevbolo, whose name is a prominent tongue-twister, is perhaps the only one who is not a film producer. His voice has been heard on many culture magazines and national newspapers where his witty film reviews are published. A former humour columnist at Metropole Magazine, he reviews movies at “True Nollywood Stories” and contributes culture reportage and analysis to pan-African website, This Is Africa. He holds a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Benin.
For his work in film criticism, Aigbokhaevbolo was invited to the Durban Film Festival, South Africa in 2014. At Berlinale, he, as one of four people worldwide selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Trainee Project for Young Film Critics, was at the Talent Campus as a Film Critic.
The others have contributed in various capacities to Nigeria’s cinematography through active participation. For instance, the award-winning Adejuyigbe has shot films, television commercials, documentaries and some music videos. Also, he has worked on a number of projects including the television series, Shuga Season one.
On her part, Oshin-Ogun is an alumnus of Colorado Film School, Aurora, Denver, and an award winning filmmaker. She studied theatre arts with specialisation in TV and film production from the Lagos State University. She finished as the Best Graduating Student in year 2000. She is a director on the MNet soap, Tinsel.
The writer, producer, director and editor, Eric Aghimien made his mark in 2011 when he made a short film titled, Hektor which was nominated for Best Use of Special Effect and Best Actor categories in the 2012 International Short Film Festival. His first feature film, A Mile from Home, got a nomination for Best Lighting Design and won Best Actor in Drama at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). The film also received an award for Achievement in Visual Effect at the Africa Movies Academy Awards (AMAA). Aghimien studied filmmaking at Del-york Creative Academy Workshop, through a Federal Government scholarship program in July 2014.
The public programme of the Berlin International Film Festival shows about 400 films annually, mostly international or European premieres including films of every genre, length and format.