‘Ifediche’ Garners 5 AFFRICUFF Nominations

The Igbo Language movie, “Ifediche”, has received five nominations from the African Cultural Film Festival, popularly called AFFRICUFF, scheduled to hold between October 26 and 29. The movie producer, Brown Ene, disclosed this at the weekend, saying that the movie was also set to premier November 12, as well as its official release in cinemas on November 17. Ene, who is the Chairman, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Enugu State Chapter, made the disclosure during a Premier Press Conference in Enugu. He further disclosed that Ifediche had in September won ‘The Best Film Foreign Language’ at the Toronto Nollywood International Film Festival, Canada. According to him, before that, the film received an honourable mention as ‘Best Feature Film’ at the Eastern Europe Film Festival. “It was also nominated as ‘BestIndigenous Language Movie’ at the 2023 African Magic Viewers Choice Awards and as ‘Best NarrativeFeature Film’ by Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival. “Few days ago, it was nominated by Abuja International Film Festival and received five nominations from AFRICUFF, USA. “As Ifediche continues to makeits path round the world and earn recognitions, its production team has scheduled its official premiere on November 12, and secured its official release with Blue Pictures Distribution Company in cinemas on November 17,” Ene said. Speaking on how the film came about, Ene recalled that in 2021, during an interaction with former Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, he announced that he would support the state AGN in a talent hunt and film production. He said that Ugwuanyi’s support, alongside others, gave birth to “Ifediche” and “We are happy and excited that this little project has got us international recognition”. He further said that the movie was shot in Enugu to project beautiful aspects of the state and centred on a university-trained village girl who decided to embrace her root in the quest to achieve her lofty dreams, which the big city failed to give her. “She has to surmount unforeseen obstacles emanating from her root and the dreams she harbours. “Ifediche is unique because it is a movie that tells about heritage, culture, family and love,” he said. He further said that the movie was acted by budding and notable actors and actresses, including Pete Edochie, Chinwetalu Agu, Ebere Okaro, Chinaza Onyia, Chinelo Enemchukwu, Jide Kenenna, Chika Okpala, alias Zebruddaya, Offiafuluagu Mbah and many others. While appreciating all the support they received so far for the production and post production of the movie, the producer urged Nigerians to look out for Ifediche in cinemas from November 17. “It is not just about Enugu as Ifediche has brought honour to Nigeria,” he added. AFFRICUFF is a vibrant showcase of African cinema presented annually to feature diverse perspectives and stories from across the continent.

Overseas Scholarships: PTDF shortlists 5,000 applicants for 2023/2024 awards

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has shortlisted over 5,000 applicants nationwide for the award of scholarships for the 2023/2024 academic session overseas scheme. The Head, Oversees Scholarship Scheme in the PTDF, Mrs. Bolanle Kehinde-Agboola, said this at a selected interview exercise for the shortlisted candidates for MSc and PhD postgraduate programmes. Kehinde-Agboola said that the selection interview was in continuation of the application process which commenced on February 13, 2023, through publications in some national newspapers, inviting qualified Nigerians to apply. According to her, “What is happening here today is the interview for the award of scholarship to Nigerians for the 2023/2024 academic session. “We have shortlisted over 5,000 applicants to partake in the exercise which is going on in the six geo-political zones. “The first criterion is that you must be a Nigerian. For the master’s programme the applicant must be a student of any of the oil and gas fields like engineering, geology, computer sciences, environmental sciences and management. “You must have a minimum of second-class upper in any of these fields for you to be qualified,’’ she said. Kehinde-Agboola said the process of applying for the exercise was that the agency would open the application windows at the end of the year for candidates to apply. She said that the PTDF was an agency charged with the capacity to strengthen and develop oil and gas sector, indicating that the essence of the programme was to train who would bring new innovation into the sector. She added that the aim of the exercise was also to offer the applicants the necessary skills required to function effectively in the industry. “The candidates are sent abroad to study the relevant skills. This scholarship scheme is running in the United Kingdom, while “we also have what is called strategic partnership in France, Germany, Malaysia and China. “This scholarship interview scheme will run for one week nationwide and the number of successful applicants depends on its budget for this year. “The agency has two types of collaborations in this programme, the United Kingdom collaboration and the strategic partnership collaboration.” The head of the scholarship scheme said that the scheme had been existing over the years, adding that the agency had discovered that some applicants do submit fake certificates. According to her, “We have had a situation where someone finished from a university with a third class in Nigeria and came with a first-class certificate from a foreign university that is fake. “We were able to detect such fake certificates, and because of that, we decided to take a further step to ratify the issue by ensuring that this selection runs with integrity and diligence. “This year, we have deployed some equipment that will help us to detect fake certificates. “We will always strive for excellence and make ensure the programme has integrity. “We engaged external experts to review the shortlisted applicants to ensure that whoever is shortlisted is qualified to attend the interview. “After the interview, the successful applicants will emerge and the award will be given to them,” she said. Kehinde-Agboola said that the exercise has been structured to efficiently deal with the high number of applicants and to satisfy federal character stipulations.