O.C Ukeje in a recent chat dismissed the normal “African-time” trend, saying coming to events early enough actually portrays the “value” of the event to the rest of the world.
The actor who is known for always being frank shared further his thoughts on the move of the ‘Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) from Calabar to Lagos, stating that Lagosians are often known for devaluing entertainment events by coming late all the time.
“I’m hoping that the Lagos practitioners are discipline enough to come out,” the actor told Pulse TV at Day one of the festival held recently in Lagos. “With Calabar, you fly everyone out… you don’t have any other place to go to so you sit through it. So, I’m hoping that the practitioners who live here [Lagos] are discipline enough to attend and see what the films are what the other practitioners across Africa are doing.”
The ‘Two Brides And A Baby’ star went on to state that AFRIFF is a safe place to portray good and quality produced African films which needs to be shared across the continent with actors expected to network for better collaborations.
“When you play in the local scene and see what other competitors are doing across the globe, it forces you to raise your standards. It forces you to think about what perspective you want your own films to come from; What kinds of subject matter to discuss in your scripts. It opens the doors for collaborations, really. Because you meet producers, film makers and they get to see the films around here and go ‘I saw your film and it was really nice’ and you guys start up conversations that could lead to something that may not be executed immediately but over time basically.” he ended.