Following Machel Montano’s collaboration with world-renowned yoga and spiritual icon Sadhguru and his #SaveSoil mission, along with his performance in India, Montano’s 2015 film Bazodee has just earned six nominations on the African continent .
Last week, the Nigeria-based Realtime Film Festival (RTF) announced that Bazodee had been recognized in the following six major categories:
● Best Lead Actor
● Main lead actress
● Best Supporting Actor
● Best supporting actress
● Best case scenario
● Best lighting design
Lorraine O’Connor, one of the film’s producers, described the news of the many nominations as follows: “Bazodee’s nominations are really exciting, as this film brings so much joy and promotes the love that is most needed in the world today: and The Caribbean is all about joy and love. It also shows that the film has a huge reach, and this being its African premiere, I’m thrilled that the film was nominated in those categories and is now being appreciated by a different audience and a different market.”
O’Connor also holds the position of General Manager of C15 Studios Limited, a company which has invested in Bazodee and has worked diligently to improve the financial prospects for creators throughout the Caribbean region.
In light of the commendable news about Bazodee, O’Connor and the C15 team are exploring potential opportunities for creative partnerships between Nigeria and the Caribbean.
O’Connor will be counted among the contingent representing Trinidad and Tobago in Nigeria for RTF 2022. She will be looking for opportunities where strategic partnerships can be forged and knowledge shared.
“We are very excited about the opportunities that can be generated from our participation in the Realtime Film Festival, opening the door for collaborations/co-productions between Nollywood and the Caribbean.” Lorraine O’Connor.
Echoing O’Connor’s views on the great benefits of creating a cinematic bridge between the Caribbean and Nigeria is Sean Valley, one of the founders of Lanniup Consulting. The valley has been instrumental in connecting the Trinidad and Tobago contingent to Nollywood. He recently explained the origins of his initiative on TTT’s NOW morning show.
C15 Studios – General Manager – Lorraine O’Connor
Valley stated that he and his Trinidadian-based Nigerian friend, Dr. Oritsetimeyin (Oti) Esimaje, were discussing some years ago the fact that Nigeria had overtaken South Africa as the largest economy on the African continent. Based on this, Valley and Esimaje decided to explore the creation of a trade corridor between West Africa and the English-speaking Caribbean.
“We decided that Nigeria’s creative sector – their media and entertainment space – also referred to as Nollywood, was where we wanted to plant our flag.” The valley of the Sean.
According to the United Nations, “the Nigerian film industry produces about 50 films a week, second only to India’s Bollywood – more than Hollywood in the United States. Although its revenue is not equal to that of Bollywood and Hollywood, Nollywood still generates an impressive $590 million annually.”
From a financial and creative perspective, Lorraine O’Connor adds, “as General Manager of C15 Studios, my mission is to take Caribbean creative talent to the world while helping to develop a profitable Caribbean economy. This kind of cooperation is exactly in line with my mission to build meaningful economic bridges between the Caribbean and Africa, which can only lead to success.”
O’Connor will discuss this and more on her monthly webcast: The C15 Show with Lorraine O’Connor. Creators across the Caribbean are encouraged to register for The C15 Show – Episode 8 (see: C15 Studios on Instagram for free registration link), as O’Connor’s dynamic guests will be none other than Stanlee Ohikhuare, Founder of the Film Festival in Realtime. who will shed his insights on Nollywood’s rise to global success; and Muhammad Muwakil and Lou Lyons of the Freetown Collective, who would talk about strategic planning for regional and global creative ascent, without ever losing sight of one’s history and culture.
In a month like August, in which many Caribbean nations celebrate Emancipation and Independence, the theme of this show is extremely integral.
The C15 Show with Lorraine O’Connor will be broadcast live from Nigeria, online (Zoom and Facebook), on Wednesday 24 August 2022: 6pm (TT time).
Bazodee will appear in RTF on August 26th. The results will be announced on August 27, at the closing ceremony of the Festival.
The Realtime Film Festival 2022 will take place from August 19 to 27 in Lagos, Nigeria. FilmTT General Manager Leslie-Ann Wills-Caton and Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) Head of Programming Diane Robertson will accompany Lorraine O’Connor and Sean Valley to the RTF Festival.
