DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition - (Page 128)

Disbook AfricA 2012 - Trends and bus i n e ss Against all odds As curiosity about the Nigerian film industry and its popular offshoot, Nollywood spreads across the world, news of international co-productions continues to pop up. And from the least-expected places. As the Ukrainian capital of Kiev is set to become more famous in Nigeria for a different reason. Featuring in more recent news about Nollywood in ‘outer’ space is Feathered Dreams, a Nigerian/Ukrainian movie touted as the first film collaboration between both countries and in the whole of Eastern Europe. The movie is produced by Ukrainian company Highlight Pictures and stars Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli as its female lead. Andrew Rozhen plays the male lead and directs the film, which is based on the true-life story of a young Nigerian girl, who is forced to abandon her dreams of a musical career to study Medicine in Ukraine after her father’s death. Phillip Rozhen, the film’s co-producer and brother to Andrew, talked about Highlight Pictures and its involvement in the Nigerian film market. “Highlight Pictures was founded in 2010,” he begins. “By now, it has already invested in the production of three full-length films for theatrical distribution. Even large players on the Ukrainian film production market can be envious of the development level like that!” he says proudly. There is valid reason for his boasts as his company also produced Synevir, Ukraine’s first 3D horror feature film, which is also the country’s second-ever 3D film. The collaboration between the Nigerian and Ukrainian film industries in producing Feathered Dreams is another feather (no pun intended) in the cap that Highlight Pictures wears with pride. “In fact, there is no precedent for the Ukrainian and Nigerian co-production, therefore the film Feathered Dreams should be regarded as the pioneer.” Speaking further, Rozhen reveals that the film’s investment cuts across not just two but three countries: Ukraine, Nigeria and the USA. For the international film producers, Feathered Dreams is their first encounter with African/Nigerian film. It is interesting to find out how the relationship emerged. As Rozhen tells it, the idea for the film was borne out of his brother’s encounter with Phillipa Peter, the young Nigerian whose true story is central to the film’s plot and whose character is played by Omoni Oboli. “The African culture aroused Andrew’s deep interest. We started hanging out with the Kiev-based Nigerians and got inspired by their ideology. The stories from their life sparked our interest.” Rozhen also credits Peter’s great help in contacting other Nigerians in Kiev toward the story’s overall essence. Peter herself is part of the film’s cast. While the story is largely from a Nigerian in Ukraine’s perspective, the film’s funding came from a Ukrainian with businesses in Nigeria. “In December 2010, me and my brother Andrew met Igor Maron [a Ukrainian impresario]. In conversation over a cup of coffee, Igor mentioned his business interests in Nigeria and told [us] about the activity of the Ukrainian public organization, Africa House Ukraine.” It turned out to be an auspicious moment for Andrew to pitch his longheld idea for the film to Maron. Once the deal was finalized, a trip to Lagos swiftly materialized for Maron and the Rozhen brothers. Aside from negotiations with colleagues in Nollywood and the industry’s other practitioners, part of their mission to Lagos was to find a fitting talent for the role of the lead female. Already on ground were representatives of the project’s Nigerian arm: film producer Austeen Eboka and Alexis Opara, vice-chairman of African House Ukraine. Based on their advice to do an audition, many had the chance to fight for the role that could only go to one person. “Omoni Oboli was the best for us,” says Rozhen. “Not only because of her beautiful and emotional acting, but also her life experience. She has visited many foreign countries and lived there as a representative of Nigerian Diaspora – just as our film character went to Ukraine to make her dream come true.” Although African films are relatively new in the Ukrainian market, the producers do not anticipate a cold reception. Rather they hope that the story’s universality will resonate with their audience around the world as it did with them. “We consider Feathered Dreams as a universal story that is clear to a wide range of audience regardless their nationality or race. We endeavoured to make our film interesting and high-quality and we hope the Ukrainian audience will appreciate our efforts, despite the exotic film subject,” Rozhen says. 12 8 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition

Cover
Foreword - Welcome to Johannesburg!
Content
Conference Program
- English Version
- Version Française
Joburg Vibes
- Street Talks
- Drum Archive
- Made in Maboneng
- The Bioscope
- Faces
First Look
- Watercolors of love - Siri
- Mooz-Lum - Meet the Adebanjo’s
- Irrational Heart - Destiny River
- City of Men - Black hands
Trends & Business
- Made in Africa / Made for Africa
- The titans of laamb
- Inside «Inside Story»
- Ecology of african audiovisual content industry
- Gems from the namibian film collection
- The century of formats
- Great formats will come from Africa
- Partners wanted
- How many people (really) watch TV in Africa?
- Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ?
- Africa’s digital switchover is coming - The question is when ?
- Intelsat’s epic
- China in Africa
- Zee : from a to z
- The Brazilians are coming !
- Against all odds
- Discover Discovery in Africa at Discop Africa
- Television with a purpose - A detailed look at educational television
- Branded Entertainment
- Hot docs-Blue ice, a unique opportunity for African documentary makers
- A solution to Africa’s thorny problem of dubbing costs
- Mission statement
Country report
- ALGERIA
- ANGOLA
- BENIN
- BOSTWANA
- BURKINA FASO
- BURUNDI
- CABO VERDE
- CAMEROON
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
- CHAD
- COMOROS
- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- DJIBOUTI
- EGYPT
- EQUATORIAL GUINEA
- ERITREA
- ETHIOPIA
- GABON
- GAMBIA
- GHANA
- GUINEA BISSAU
- GUINEA CONAKRY
- IVORY COAST / CÔTE D'IVOIRE
- KENYA
- LESOTHO
- LIBERIA
- LYBIA
- MADAGASCAR
- MALAWI
- MALI
- MAURITANIA
- MAURITIUS
- MOROCCO
- MOZAMBIQUE
- NAMIBIA
- NIGER
- NIGERIA
- REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
- RWANDA
- SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
- SIERRA LEONE
- SENEGAL
- SEYCHELLES
- SOMALIA
- SOUTH AFRICA
- SOUTH SUDAN
- SUDAN
- SWAZILAND
- TANZANIA
- TOGO
- TUNISIA
- UGANDA
- ZAMBIA
- ZIMBABWE
Speakers
Participants
Index Advertisers

DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition

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