Preparations
are in the final stages as organisers have confirmed of the Banjul my love movie premier in Freetown, Sierra Leone, come 26
August 2017.
According
to officials, the movie premier will be more exciting and colourful than the previously held
ones.
Speaking
in an interview with The Point Entertainment and Lifestyle at the Sea View Hotel
in Kololi on Tuesday shortly after his arrival in the country, Desmond Finney,
an actor, producer and director from Sierra Leone, disclosed that his mission
in the country is to bring submitted Sierra Leone films for the SMA 2017 to be
held in The Gambia on 30 of September 2017.
He said as part of the collaboration, a film
they acted ‘Banjul My Love’, a film that celebrates the love that the people of
Gambia show to foreigners, was premiered in The Gambia on 6 May and they are
going to premiere it in Sierra Leone as well.
“We
have Sierra Leoneans who are part of the project and we are going to premier
that in Sierra Leone on 26 August 2017. Am also here to see to some logistics
and extend proper invitations to high level officials and to make sure that the
event goes on smoothly.”
“Basically,
this is a ‘Sierra Leonean-Gambianwood’ collaboration and the reason why we are
targeting Freetown is quite interesting because we are hoping that this would
be able to bring some Gambians actors and actresses together.”
Desmond said he was recognised last year by
Afrinity Production and the people of The Gambia as best actor, receiving the
movie award.
“I
said to myself what better way to make this award bigger than to take it to
Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia and other countries. I spoke with Mr Adams
and we decided that this year we are going to make sure that we open up the
special movie award and bring more films from Sierra Leone, maybe Nigeria as
well, to make the event a bigger multinational event.”
‘So
it would be recognised not only in The Gambia but also in Sierra Leone and in
Nigeria.”
Desmond
disclosed that the films that they are submitting from Sierra Leone are quite
diverse and some of them are epics of traditional African films.
“We
are hoping to have a minimum of six people to come to Freetown maybe up to
ten,” he said, adding that this is a collaboration that started a couple of
years ago and they are hoping that it is going to grow bigger.
The
Sierra Leone film actor therefore called on corporate institutions, financial
institutions and banks among others to promote the countries and their
cultures.
In terms of quality acting, Desmond said
Gambian films, Sierra Leonean, Nigerian and Ghanaian films are all basically
the same but the major difference is all about exposure.
“I
have seen talented local actors and actresses that can perform anywhere in the
world. It is the same in Sierra Leone and that is why we are creating the
platform for the world to see these people,” he declared.
Wilfred
U. Adams, (CEO of Afrinity Productions and Executive Producer of SMA), said
special movie awards will hold tentatively on September 30 in a prestigious
location in The Gambia as an initiative geared towards the common good of film
making and film makers in The Gambia as well as actors and actress.
Afrinity
CEO confirmed to this forum that preparations are far advanced to premiere the
film in Sierra Leone come 26 August.
He
also disclosed that the NCAC and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture have
endorsed the SMA 2017 edition and they are privileged to celebrate excellence
in film making.
Adams
thanked the film makers, adding that they submitted almost more than ten films.
“We
want to celebrate African films, so we are happy Gambia is hosting Africa come 30 September so is about networking, is about being African,” he stated.
We are introducing one of the veteran film
makers Amadou Sillah who is also the vice president of the Film Producers
Association and we are bringing people from all walks of life to come and
celebrate and we are also calling out the corporate bodies, the sponsors as well
as the GSM companies. We also need those multinational.”
They
should also come and support the art because their support would take it to
another level.
“I
want to thank Desmond for believing in SMA right from day one and thank the
Ministry of Tourism and Culture for the support.”
The
Point Newspaper was also awarded by Special Movie Awards (SMA) in 2016 for the
excellent work the paper has been doing.
Published
below is list of the award categories:
We
are pleased to inform you of the successful completion of submission for the
SMA 2017 Awards. Submission closed on Monday 31 July and 46 films were
submitted by 30 film production houses in The Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Wherein
31 films in total were submitted in The Gambia, 10 films from Sierra Leone and
5 films from Nigeria.
Movie
screening is on as the Jury retreat commenced on Wednesday 2nd August 2017.
After a week-long screening by the jury, nominees will be released based on the
films submitted. The Production Houses, submissions and categories are as
follows:
SPECIAL
MOVIE AWARDS 2017 CATEGORIES
PERFORMING
ARTS CATEGORY
• Best Leading Male Actor
• Best Leading Female Actress
• Best Supporting Male Actor
• Best Supporting Female Actress
PRODUCTION
CATEGORY
• Best Hair/Makeup Artist
• Best Costumier
• Best Sound
• Best Editor
• Best Visual Effects
• Best Picture
• Best Documentary
• Best Indigenous Film
• Best Short Film
• Best Feature Film
• Best Comedy (Introducing)
• Best Story/ Screenplay (Introducing)
• Best Director
