The historic Elgin Theatre was a colourful sight, as the cast and crew of ‘The Wedding Party’ comprising Kemi Adetiba, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Banky W., Iretiola Doyle, Sola Sobowale, Adesua Etomi, Zainab Balogun, Beverly Naya and Mo Abudu rocked the red carpet last Thursday before and after the screening of the romcom.
Incidentally, the film of the night, ’The Wedding Party’, directed by Kemi Adetiba, is among the eight Nigerian films that have been selected by the festival through its City-to-City programme, profiling Lagos this year.
This fall, Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, TIFF, had programmed the selection from Africa and the Middle East. Thus, there were other artistes and film promoters of the other seven films from Nigeria, which include: ’76 by Izu Ojukwu; ’93 Days by Steve Gukas; ‘Green White Green’ by Abba Makama; ‘Just Not Married’ by Uduak-Obong Patrick; ’Okafor’s Law’ by Omoni Oboli and ’Oko Ashewo’ (Taxi Driver) by Daniel Emeke Oriahi.
The roll call also had OC Ukeje and Kunle Afolayan, who is being profiled by the festival as an exemplary model of filmmaking from Nigeria, even as his latest film, ’The CEO’, has been scheduled for an industry screening.
The night showed so much promise for the remaining days of the festival, as Bailey, David Oyelowo, a special guest and notable British-Nigerian actor, and Steve Ayorinde, Lagos State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, led the opening ceremony with remarkable speeches that captured the essence of Nigeria’s participation at this year’s event.