Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Popular Nollywood actor, Francis Duru, at the weekend won the award for the Best Actor of the Year on the last day of the Inside Nollywood International Film Festival Awards (INIFFAA) held in Abuja.
The award, according to the organisers, was to celebrate talent and encourage creativity as well as recognise sportsmanship towards promoting the positive image of Nigeria.
Other awardees at the event included: Alim Textiles, who won the award for the most influential youth of the year, Emeka Rollas who won outstanding guild leader of the year and Omegbu Onyekwelu, who won the award for best sound.
Duru, while appreciating the organisers of the film festival awards, noted that every award is a reward for hard work, expressing joy that three decades later, he was still getting accolades.
“My advice to the young artists is that process is key. Get knowledge about where you are going to. Acting is a full-time obsession. Acting is not just about I want to shine, today. It is a means of communication and to change the world for better,” he added.
The founder and Coordinator of G15 in Lagos, Dr Francis Uchenna, who also won an award of excellence expressed his gratitude and commitment to supporting the creative industry.
Founder of inside Nollywood, Muoma Obinna, expressed his gratitude for the successful completion of the film festival and said he looked forward to seeing more elaborate ones for indigenous movies, actors, actresses and producers.
Earlier, filmmakers, producers, and other prominent figures in the Nigerian film industry, including Duru and Hanks Anuku, had attended the opening of the event.
At the opening day ceremony, Obinna said it was a platform that promotes the positives of Nollywood across the world as well as the hard work of practitioners.
He disclosed that Nollywood veterans, industry participants, and spectators would receive recognition for their contributions to the nation’s film industry’s positive narrative.
President of the African Youth Diaspora Organisation and one of Inside Nollywood’s partners, Dr. Eileen Okenwa, said that African tales needed to be shared abroad in a genuine way.
“We need a platform to tell our own side of the story in the positive light, which is very important for the African brand and also the Nigerian brand. There are a lot of misconceptions about Africa and Nigeria in the West and around the world,” Okenwa said.
Actors, producers, students, and other industry participants were also treated to various thrilling performances by cultural organisations, including the native Abuja Gbagyi dancers.
