As part of its mission of upholding the image of Nigeria, Content Warehouse Limited, an audio-visual and cultural promotion organization, is set for the maiden edition of Nigerian Cultural & Film Festival; one of the biggest showcases of Nigeria’s creative works in Bordeaux, a notable tourist city in France.
Taking place from September 16 to 19, 2018, Nobel Literature Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka will be leading a delegation of Nigerian film industry stakeholders to the festival.
According to Founder of the project, Mr. Ralph Nwadike, other delegates whose agencies are supporting the event include Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, CEO of Africa Independent Television; Dr. Samantha Iwowo; Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, Executive Director of National Film and Video Censors Board; Otunba Segun Runsewe, D.G of The National Council for Arts and Culture; Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, M.D of Nigerian Film Corporation, and London-based Nigerian filmmaker Biyi Bamidele Thomas.
“The festival will be showcasing our arts and crafts, including our dance and drama. We will showcase our historical pictography and documentary,” says Nwadike.
Disclosing that one of the highlights of the event will be an agreement signing between Nigeria and France on film related issues, Nwadike is optimistic that the event will put paid to some of the wrong impressions outsiders may have about Nigeria.
“Let it be known that we are not a terrorist country, that we are not a country of kidnappers, assassins and murderers; hence we have put together some of the best known names and personalities to lead this delegation of culture, of music, of fashion, of food, of television and film to showcase to the world. This is who we are; a country blessed with abundance in everything and much more,” he says.
The Nigerian Cultural & Film Festival is being coordinated by cultural promoters like Barrister Tunji Bamishigbin, Mr. Francis Onwochie, Mrs. Nkechi Nwadike, Mr. Forster Ojehonmon, Mr. Pascal Ojukwu and Mr. Austin Okagbue and Henry Okoro, who are based in France.
On the choice of Bordeaux for the cultural event, Nwadike who is President of Association of Movie Producers (AMP) says the Consul General of France, Mr. Laurent Polonceaux and the late Pierre Cherruau who was the then audio-video attaché suggested the location, adding that “Paris is already saturated with different festivals and Bordeaux is not just a beautiful city, it is the wine capital of the world. And Bordeaux deserves something big, something unique with its own class and its own identity.”
Planned as an annual event, former audio-visual attaché of France to Nigeria, Pierre Barrow will join Soyinka and others to speak on culture, films and government policies.
The four-day event is expected to close with an awards night, including a posthumous award to Pierre Cherruau.