Recently updated on October 24th, 2022 at 03:30 pm
Femi Odugbemi has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award by the Nigerian Film Corporation under the auspices of Nigeria Film Society.
Femi Odugbemi was presented with the award at the Zuma Film Festival, which held in Abuja.
According to Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Society, the Movie Rock of Fame Award presented to Odugbemi was “to recognize and reward excellence and his immeasurable contributions towards the growth of the film industry.”
Femi Odugbemi joins late first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Chief Chika Okpala, Professor Hyginius Ekwuazi, Mallam Ali Nuhu and Mallam Yakub Ibn Mohammed as recipients of Rock of Fame.
Speaking after receiving the award, the filmmaker behind ‘Tinsel’ and ‘Battleground’ said:
“It is good to show all the glitz and glamour but if the essence of your story is lost, then you haven’t done a job.
We need to find that untold story that reflect our history and the magic of the African culture more, not cloning stories informed only by pecuniary gains.
Our stories should not only entertain but also inform and inspire.
Filmmaking is a powerful tool which most of us are yet to fully grasp.
Nollywood can and should be the most powerful voice of the black race.”
Between 2002 and 2006, Femi Odugbemi was President of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN) where he championed professional training and workshops for the then nascent Nollywood industry. He also led the organisation of the Lagos Forum on Cinema and Video, which focused on the business of content marketing and film distribution.
Odugbemi’s career in the film industry boasts of many milestones. He was the pioneer and three-time Head Judge of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). He has also served as a Head of Jury of the Uganda Film Festival in Kampala for three consecutive years.
He is a Co-founder and Executive Director of the popular iREP International Documentary Film Festival which has gathered filmmakers from across the globe to Lagos for the last eight years.
iREP has provided training and workshop opportunities free of charge to many emerging filmmakers especially those focused on the less glamorous documentary film genre. Odugbemi through iREP has convened academics, intellectuals, historians and filmmakers under one umbrella to integrate their artistic vision, with thematic explorations of archiving, post-colonial narratives, cultural renaissance, impact of new media and technology on storytelling and many other salient inter-disciplinary approaches to film engagement.
Femi Odugbemi himself established his pedigree as a documentarist of international repute with documentary titles like the AMAA-Best Documentary film ‘Bariga Boy’ and many others.
The general focus of his documentary work has been to preserve our culture as well as use film as an advocacy tool to bring to fore burning issues in the society, as a way of keeping the leaders in check.
