Article
By Bolarinwa Akande
After 10 years of operations, Founder of Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF), Mr. Fidelis Duker, has announced his decision to step aside as festival director, paving way for notable actor and filmmaker, Fred Amata to helm the affairs of the movie event.
“The Board and Management of the 11th Abuja International film festival are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Fred Amata a Nigerian-born film actor and director, media personality, and cultural icon as the ACTING FESTIVAL DIRECTOR of the ABUJA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL,” Duker said in a statement.
“Fred Amata is a 1986 graduate of theatre arts from the University of Jos. He was the second director of the longest running TV soap of the eighties Ripples. An award winning actor for his heart rendering role in the 1996 sensational movie, Mortal Inheritance with Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, he has worked with the several TV stations amongst them NTA, Clapperboard TV, and DBN Television,” the statement further read.
One of the most recognized screen figures in Africa, Fred Amata is a scion of the renowned Amata film dynasty that has produced some of the most recognized and celebrated names in African film.
He made his debut as an actor in the award–winning TV series, Legacy in 1986. In a career spanning almost three decades, Fred has earned directorial, acting and performance credits in over 150 productions spanning almost the entire genre of film, theatre, and cinema.
He has won the coveted Nigerian Best Actor Award (Mortal Inheritance, 1997), Best Director Award (Light and Darkness, 2002), and several other awards and recognitions including: The Afro-Hollywood Awards for Outstanding Performance, London (1999); Outstanding Performance and Contribution to the Nigeria Film Industry, Washington DC (April 2004) and Nollywood Ambassadors Award, Kenya (May 2010).
Fred Amata has consulted for the UNFPA on the use of Nollywood (Film) Content for advocacy and was inducted into the Movie Makers Hall of Fame, USA in October 2009.
When off set, Fred is an ardent football, scrabble and chess player who loves music and dancing, traveling and discovering peoples of the world and their culinary delights!
He will be receiving the baton of leadership from Mr. Fidelis Duker who founded the film festival almost 11 years ago and whose role will be advisory capacity cum founder of the film festival. It must be noted that Duker has over the last 11 years developed the Abuja international festival to an enviable height globally as the foremost and longest running independent film festival in West Africa.
According to the head Media Communications of the film festival Mr. Louis Okpoto, Mr. Amata will be leading a team of creative individuals as the Acting
Festival Director of the 11th Abuja International Film Festival whose theme is 100 years of Films in Nigeria….A Retrospective. The 11th edition of the film festival is billed for the 23rd to 26th of Abuja
Image: www.therealfredamata.com