Nollywood, for its creativity and vibrancy, is generating positive excitement among the Omcomm crew, organizers of ION International Film Festival (IONIFF) Port Harcourt 09.
The Port Harcourt event is the 6th edition running, and is scheduled to hold between 9th and 12th December 2009 – a four-day programme of international films, workshops, forums and glamour.
ION will bring together over 200 international guests including Nollywood, Hollywood, Bollywood and European celebrities, artistes, producers and distributors.
The Nigerian film industry is now said to be the second largest movie industry in the world after Bollywood – Hollywood ranked at number 3 – for titles released.
According to Valentine Charles, partnership director at Omcomm studio in Lagos, Nollywood represents the positive energy of the country and has become the primary face of Nigeria in the international circle portraying the huge potentials of Nigeria particularly in the creative entertainment and film industry. “Artistes are carrying messages to the world, inspiring the people.”
“ION International Film Festival’s choice of Port Harcourt as the first African city to host the festival that started in Los Angeles in 2004 and moved to Dubai in 2008 is based on our observation of the growing reference point of Nigeria and Nollywood as a creative hub for talents and creativity.”
The city, according to her, represents what ION film festival stands for – promoting peace, unity and global awareness. “We want filmmakers from all over the world to feel the energy of Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta that we have felt from the first time we visited. Our production team is on ground, and we are working towards improving the standards we set in Dubai in 2008 with Nollywood’s exceptional growth and rating as one of the biggest movie industry in the world, which reflects the vast untapped potential and impact this industry will generate.”
This year’s theme of the official selection is ‘Movies That Move,’ and entries are scheduled to close on 30th September 2009.
Valentine revealed that movies from all over the country have been submitted for the different categories and that the IONIFF/Omcomm team is very pleased with the movies that have been sourced so far.
ION International Film Festival was established in 2004 by Chris David of Shout Studio, and was in 2007 acquired by the Farmani Group, founder of several charities and art-related organizations.
The film festival is a touring one that is dedicated to promoting independent films, documentaries, animation, music videos and student films; and is held annually in different locations to promote global awareness and unity.
ION International Film Festival welcomes ardent industry professionals, film enthusiasts and the general public to experience the art and passion of some of the world’s most talented filmmakers.