Festival Of Films, Africa Opens In Accra!

 

The maiden edition of the ‘Festival Of Films, Africa’ [FOFA], a four day event has opened in Accra. The event organized by FOFA organization in collaborations with Silverbird Cinema to showcase the beauty of African film makers to be celebrated in Ghana.

The Ghanaian movie industry has contributed immensely to the growth of the African film and there’s a need to celebrate the artistic works of the African film makers in Ghana and beyond.

The ‘Festival Of Films, Africa’ [FOFA] presents a platform for exhibition, promotion of “A List” African films and workshop for training stakeholders in film and an awards night to celebrate the African film maker.

The F.O.F.A. was initiated by African Movie Academy Awards [AMAA] country coordinator in Ghana and also the Managing Director of Judi Consult, Judith Oluwole Nsiah. In her speech at the launch to formally open the festival said its time that African film makers came together to work on the common growth of the African film industry.



F.O.F.A. hopes to see the African film grow its network of collaboration in film making and distributing around the continent and beyond. It also seeks to bridge the gap between African film maker within Africa and in the Diaspora. It also hopes to make the African film maker make gains in film making, creating a network of film distributors across Africa to enable smooth distributions of film amongst 21^st century film makers across Africa.

Present at the workshop to dissect on topical issues includes film makers, actors, actress and a whole lot of people in the film making industry. The workshop named ‘Celebrating The African Film Maker’ took place at the Goethe Institut in Accra.

Theo Akatugba touched on creating content for international film festivals and market after film maker, Dr. Chris Hesse spoke about the essential role of cinematography in the art of film making. Other topics that were hammered on were ‘Branding an African film’ and ‘Directing an African film in 21^st century; challenges of female directors in African cinema.

Reps from the Ministries of Tourism, Trade and Industry were present to offer their support.
Below is a lineup of films to be showed at the Festival Of Films, Africa [FOFA].

Day 1: Thursday March 1:
12 Noon: Dead Man’s Tale
3:00 Pm: Soil
6:00pm: Monark
9:00pm: Love Brewed In An African Pot

Day 2: Friday March 2:
12 Noon: Imposter
3:00 Pm: No Time To Die
6:00pm: Unwanted Guest
9:00pm: Heritage Africa

Day 3: Saturday March 3:
12 Noon: Billy
3:00 Pm: Billy
6:00pm: Aramotu
9:00pm: Devil’s Kingdom

Day 4: Sunday March 4:
12 Noon: Destiny Of Lesser Animals
3:00 Pm: Billy
6:00pm: I Sing Of A Well
9:00pm: Not My Mission

Other films showing at interval are, Mafe Tiga [Senegal], Taharuki [Kenya], Weakness [Kenya] and Legend of Portnalong.

Sarkodie & Okyeame Kwame Top Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012 Nominees List!

 

Two previous winners of the Ghana Music Awards ‘Artiste of the Year’ accolade Sarkodie and Okyeame Kwame have topped the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012 nominations list.

Sarkodie, who is touted as the country’s fastest rapper grabbed 11 nominations to top the list with his ‘Rapperholic’ album, following closely, is the rap doctor Okyeame Kwame with 9 nominations with ‘The Clinic’ album. New entrant Stay Jay grabbed 7 nominations with his album ‘The Repetition’.


Sarkodie who swept 5 awards with 8 nominations at the 2010 edition of the awards with his ‘Makye’ album was nominated in the following categories ‘Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife Song of the Year’, ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’, ‘Hip Hop Song Of The Year’, ‘Best Rapper of the year’ and ‘Song Writer Of The Year’.

He obtained 3 nominations in the ‘Best Collaboration of the Year’ category with ‘You Go Kill Me’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’ featuring EL and Efya respectively. Also his feature on Raquel’s ‘Sweetieo’ track also earned them a nomination.

Read Also: Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012: ‘Artiste Of The Year’ To Grab GHC 10.000!

Rapper Okyeame Kwame, who achieved similar feat as Sarkodie in 2009 awards was the second highest nominee with the following categories ‘Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Best Collaboration Of The Year’, ‘Hiplife Song of the Year’, ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’, ‘Best Music Video Of The Year’, ‘Best Rapper of the year’, ‘Song Writer Of The Year’ and ‘Record Of The Year.

The two previous winners were both nominated in almost all the categories except the ‘Best Music Video of the Year’, which Sarkodie failed to grab a nomination. However, what differentiated the two was Sarkodie’s triple nominations in the ‘Best Collaboration’ which edged him away from Okyeame Kwame in terms of who tops the overall nominations.

View: Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Launch Pictures!

Stay Jay of ‘Shashe Wowo’ fame was the third highest nominee with 7 nominations.
The nominees were released to the Ghanaian media today at the studios of GhONE Television. This year the winner of the ‘Artiste of the Year’ goes home with GHC10.000.

The award is slated for Saturday, April 14 at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre.

Below is the full list of nominations:

Artiste(s) of the Year
Becca
Okyeame Kwame
Sarkodie
Efya
R2Bees
4×4
Kwaw Kesse

Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year
Stay Jay
Okyeame Kwame
4×4
Sarkodie
D-Cryme
Kwaw Kese
R2Bees

Highlife Artiste(s) of the Year
Daddy Lumba
K.K. Fosu
Kwabena Kwabena
Kwasie Pee
George Darko
Lucky Mensah

Gospel Artiste(s) of the Year
DSP Kofi Sarpong
Gifty Osei
Philipa Baafi
Lady Prempeh
Bernice Ansah
Selina Boateng

Best New Artiste(s) of The Year 
Atumpan
Racquel
Stay Jay
D-Cryme
EL
Zigi

Best Collaboration Of The Year
Trigmatic/Raquel – Aageii
Fuse ODG / Tiffany – Azonto
Raquel/Sarkodie – Sweetieo
Eduwordzi/Stay Jay – Yenko Nkoa
Okyeame Kwame/Bertha – Faithful
Sarkodie/ EL – You Go Kill Me
Sarkodie/Efya – I’m In Love With You

African Artiste(S) Of The Year (Non Ghanaian)
Naeto C
Duncan Mighty
Ice Prince
D’banj
Cabo Snoop
Wizkid

Hiplife Song of the Year
Stay Jay – Shashee Wowo
Eduwordzi – Yenko Nkoa
4×4 – Yesi Yesii
Keche – Sorkode
Sarkodie – U Go Kill Me
Okyeame Kwame - Faithful
Buk Bak – Kolom
D-Cryme – Kill Me Shy

Highlife Song of the Year
George Darko – Lucky Star
Lucky Mensah – Nkratuor
Kwabena Maphia – I Go Pay
Daddy Lumba Ko – Hye Po
Kwabena Kwabena – Be Gye Me
K. K Fosu –Akoma

Most Popular Song of the Year
4×4 – Yesi Yesii
Stay Jay – Shashee Wowo
Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho
D-Cryme – Kill Me Shy
Sarkodie – U go Kill Me
Zigi – You Say Wetin
Atumpan – The Thing
Okyeame Kwame – Faithful

Afro-Pop Song Of The Year
Ruff N Smooth – Beautiful
Becca  – African Woman
Fuse ODG  – Azonto
Zigi – U Say Wey Tin
Atumpan – The Thing
Raquel  – Sweetieo
Chase  – Tell Me Your Name

Hip Hop Song Of The Year
Bra Kevin – Three Headed Beast
D-Black – My Kind Of Girl
Sarkodie – I’m In Love With You
Edem – Too Much
Guru – Mmaakuo
Kwaw Kese - Poppin

Gospel Song Of The Year
Lady Prempeh  – Nsantaban
Gifty Osei – Fefeefe
Philipa Baafi – Dea Eba Wosem Afe Yi
Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho
Jake Alolome – Tomorrow By This Time
DSP Kofi Sarpong – African Borborbo
Bernice Ansah – Final Say

Reggae Song of the Year
Blakk Rasta – Miss Right
Sonni balli – All They See
Edem – Ghetto Arise
Kesse – Oh Yes
Stonebwoy – Climax
Jupiter/Trigmatic – Uptown Downtown

Group of the Year
R2Bees
Buk Bak
Keche
Ruff ‘N’ Smooth
4×4

Industry Awards:

Album Of The Year
Sarkodie – Rapperholic
Kwaw Kese – Untold Stories
4×4 – Waist And Power
Stay Jay – Repetition
Trigmatic – Solutions
Selina Boateng – Menko Me Ho

Best Male Vocal Artiste
Kesse  – Oh Yes
Fritz -Me Dowu
KK Fosu – Akoma
Kwasey Pee – Shwe Ahenie
Chemphe – Number One
Kwame Adinkra  – Abena Dansoaa

Best Female Vocal Artiste
Efya – I’m In Love With You
Raquel – Odo
Bertha – Faithful
Becca – African Woman
Irene Logan Light – Darkness
Diana Antwi Hamilton – Eye Wo Ara

Best Music Video Of The Year
Becca – African Woman – Davis Media Group
4×4 – Yesi Yesii – Phamous People
DBlack – My Kind Of Girl – Jonathan Olamide & Desmond Blackmore
Mensah – No One Knows – Sam A Kessie
Bra Kevin – 3 Headed Beast – Nana Asihene
Sheriffa Gunu – Mrantie – Phamous Films Production
Okyeame Kwame – Faithful – Ohene Media

Best Rapper Of The Year
Manifest – Ghana Must Go
Sarkodie – U Go Kill Me
Okyeame Kwame – Faithful
Edem – Legacy
Trigmatic – Light And Darkness
EL – Obuu Mo

Song Writer Of The Year
Okyeame Kwame – Faithful – Kwame Nsiah Apau
DCryme – Kill Me Shy – Darlington Agyekum
Mensah – Fante Love Song – Mensa Ansah
Manifest/Efya - Asa – Kwame Tsikata /Jane Awindor/ J.Karp
Sarkodie/ Efya – I’m In Love With You – Micheal Owusu Addo / Jane Awindor
Becca – African Woman -  Kiki Banson
Trigmatic – Light And Darkness – Nana Yaw Oduro, Irene Logan

Record Of The Year
Okyeame Kwame – Faithful
Jayso/Adina – Music
Mensah – Fante Love Song
Trigmatic/Irene – Light and Darkness
Sarkodie – I’m In Love With You
Kwame Adinkra – Akua Dansoa
Yaa Pono – Good Morning

Gospel Album Of The Year
Philipa Baafi – Dea Eba Wosem Afe Yi
Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho
Bernice Ansah – Gbenze Gbenze
Lady Prempeh – Ne Ntaban
Diana Antwi Hamilton – Blessings
Skuul Fuo – Chapter One
Gifty Osei – Fefee

Photos: Eazzy Rocking Nokia Asha 201 & Asha 303 Launch!

 

Yesterday at the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303  launch in Accra, Eazzy of Lynx Entertainment fame rocked the stage to the excitement of the crowd…Check out the photos GhanaCelebrities.Com captured during her performance. Love the shoes!

READ ALSO: Nokia Launches New Asha Range Of Phones Into Ghanaian Market 

 

Nokia Launches New Asha Range Of Phones Into Ghanaian Market!

 

In a bid to continually deliver unmatched mobile experience to its teeming customers, Nokia the World’s leading mobile phone manufacturer has unveiled the Asha range of products into the Ghanaian market. The launch event which took place at the Silver Star Tower in Accra saw the official introduction of the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303 into the Ghanaian market.

Nokia asha phones are messaging devices produced with full QWERTY keypad for quick and easy text input yet quite affordable. The Asha range is available at the very affordable prize of mobile phones but imbued with the distinct features of smart phones.

General Manager in charge of Sales for Nokia Nigeria, Mr. Chris Brown said consumers can now send text messages, emails and chats with their friends with added speed advantage of the QWERTY keypad. They can also view their friends status updates and tweet right there on their home screen and download thousands of free applications from their proprietary Nokia store.

On his part, Nokia’s Operator Account manager, Kolawole Osinomo said “Asha means hope and “we see the next generation as one that is bound to be connected beyond calls and text messaging. Thus, we are launching an ambition and not devices.” He explained that this was why leading operator MTN decided to partner Nokia to provide free one-month internet access to Nokia faithful in Ghana who purchase the device. Mr. Osinowo said further that Nokia Asha was consistent with the company’s tradition of always churning out devices that suit consumer needs.

He stated, “We are making phones that give users a great experience and in Asha 201 and 303, we are giving young people devices that are trendy and packed with lots of exciting applications.

He explained further that besides carrying QWERTY pad, Asha 201 and 303 also gives users access to the Nokia store, where thousands of applications can be download; and what more, internet access is free for one money – thanks to MTN.

 

Nokia Asha 201 comes with fully integrated social networks to make consumers stay connected to friends and networks via Nimbuzzz, Facebook chats and more. It also has high performance loudspeakers to enable consumers share favourite music with friends and support for up to 32G with a microSD memory card.
The Nokia Asha 303 comes with all tools on the homescreen, meaning consumers can view their friend’s updates and tweet right there. It also comes with touchscreen capabilities to enable consumers navigate their phone as well as play games on the sleek touchscreen. Nokia Asha 303 has the Nokia Browser that gives consumers faster and more cost effective web browsing experience. The Nokia Browser compresses consumer data by up to 90% which means consumers can spend less money and less time surfing the internet via data.

Ghanaian Movie Maker Calls For Ban On Drug Users In Ghana’s Music Industry!

 

Controversial movie maker and C.E.O. of Movie Africa Productions, Socrate Safo has called on institutions responsible for championing the interest of Ghanaian musicians to think of a punishment for any musician established to be using drugs.

The movie maker made the statement as part of his contribution on Entertainment Review on Peace FM. His comment was related to the issue of musician Akosua Agyepong’s promise of stopping Efya who has confessed to the Ghanaian media that, she is not into drugs but rather smokes cigarette.

His other panel members didn’t take it lightly with him for that assertion but he kept stressing that “I’m responsible” to support his call.

Songstress Efya’s name has been on the lips of many Ghanaians after the death of British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse who according to reports died of drug overdose and more recently after the death of American artist, actress, producer and model Whitney Houston, who until her death was battling with drugs.
The dynamic Efya in an interview denied usage of drugs, except smoking, “I don’t use narcotics before my performance, after my performance, through my performance and during the day. I don’t do drugs, me, my name is E-F-Y-A and I do not do drugs.”

Read Also: Audio: Akosua Agyepong Descends Heavily On Efya Saying…I Am Going To Stop Efya From Smoking

“I don’t know why people say I do drugs; nobody out there who has said that I do drugs has ever seen me do it. I can swear down and tell you that because I don’t do drugs. I smoke cigarettes, I do that you see me doing it when I’m out it’s my thing but nobody can judge me on that but the thing is I don’t do drugs.”

The fact that, Efya admitted she smokes cigarette has also been a major issue for discussions on various media platforms with the gospel musician coming up publicly in one of the discussions that she’s ready to advice her to quit smoking.

When GhanaCelebrities.Com contacted Socrate Safo, he said, a ban should be imposed on any musician found culpable of using narcotics. He said using banning as a tool to prevent musicians from using drugs as is done in sports will do the trick. He conceded that would not entirely curtail the usage of drugs.

Read Also: Efya Hits Back Saying…I Do Not Do Drugs, I Only Smoke Cigarettes…And No Weed Too?

In buttressing his point, he said if in sporting activities, an athlete is found culpable of ‘doping’, commonly referred as the ‘use of performance enhancing drugs’ and banned for number of years, then its high time similar posture was adopted in Ghana to use as a deterrent to others.

He said if a musician who uses narcotics churns out hits after hits and its being played on radio and promoted on TV, it sends a strong message to the musician that, he or she can continue to use the narcotics and still get his stuff patronised and get awarded for that.

He argued that if such stiffer stance was taken and a musician banned for like a year by MUSIGA, that would help to curtail the use of drugs among musicians.

On the issue of evidence of drug usage by any musician, Socrate said if a mechanism is put in place, musician who peddles in narcotics would be known and busted. He ended by saying Ghanaians should stop the hypocrisy and address the issue concerning narcotics usage.

Do you concur with Socrate’s call?

Source: http://www.ghanacelebrities.com/2012/02/28/ghanaian-movie-maker-calls-for-ban-on-drug-users-in-ghanas-music-industry#ixzz1nnyy7kfn

Viasat 1 Back With Season 2 Of ‘IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY’!

Season 2 of game show, ‘It Runs in the Family’ is set to premiere 1^st March on Viasat 1. The game show is the channel’s 5^th Own Produced program after The One Show; the UEFA Champions League Studio discussion, Laugh a Minute and the Viasat 1 News. The show which made its debut in September 2011 is produced by Viasat 1’s sister company Modern African Productions (MAP) and hosted by stand up comedian Derrick Kwabena Boateng AKA DKB or Madam Kpelems.

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY is a family oriented game show. The game play sees two families go head to head and compete to win a grand prize. The families consist of two males and two females between the ages of 15 and 50+. Players are asked to guess responses given by a street survey.

There are three rounds, each of which sees one player from each team eliminated leaving one only from both families, to compete for the grand prize in the final round. Individual prizes are awarded to high scoring players.

 This season will see the introduction of new tweaks including
1) GHANA, MY MOTHERLAND: The questions are created to TEST your knowledge on questions specific to Ghana. The focus is on Ghanaian history, geography, government, politics, social, film, music, dance, agriculture, nature etc. The Family must nominate their “weakest link”
2) LYRICS & SONGS: The family comes together to decide who in their family knows the most about music! That representative must then choose 1 song in the list on the screen. Then they must sing along till the music STOPS! At that point, they must guess WHICH WORD COMES NEXT? In this round, Family A must eliminate someone in Family B!
3) WORDGAMES: The families are given 1 letter…. The have 1 minute to come up
with as many words as possible!
4) THE GRAND ELMININATOR: A grand finale which not only tests the finalists’ ability to beat their opponent, but is a battle of wills with a variety of tasks outlined to be uncovered one level after another! In this round there are 3 challenges for the last man standing in the family:
•          Level 1: Spot the Difference
•          Level 2: Spell this word correctly 
•          Level 3: Arrange according to Street Survey
5) SAY WHAT? – In this short spot JUST FOR LAUGHS; our funny host DKB asks people what they think a specific word means!! DKB’S task is to find only the silliest definitions!!!
The show is interactive and allows audiences to participate in the game. Viewers also win by guessing responses. The quickest with the correct answer wins via SMS.
Season 2 of IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY premieres Thursday 1^st March 2012 at 8pm and broadcasts Thursdays at

Source: http://www.ghanacelebrities.com/2012/02/28/viasat-1-back-with-season-2-of-it-runs-in-the-family#ixzz1nnw5X6DD

HOT Shots: Nana Akua Addo Unveils HOT SEXY Promo Photos!

Actress Nana Akua Addo has brightening GhanaCelebrities.Com’s weekend with these NEW HOT SEXY promo photos. We have seen and published several promo photos, and we have also rejected many promo photos but these ones add colour to the air-SEXY is the word.

I don’t think one can get any more sexier than these!

Anyway, enjoy the photos below

Source: http://www.ghanacelebrities.com/2012/02/27/hot-shots-nana-akua-addo-unveils-hot-sexy-promo-photos#ixzz1nntsOoDU