Film Festival Recognized by the African “Oscars” for Its Global Impact on the International Cinema Industry
![Asantewa Olatunji, Ghanaian film star Lydia Forson and Ayuko Babu]()
Asantewa Olatunji, Ghanaian film star Lydia Forson and Ayuko Babu
The kudos just keeps on coming for the Pan African Film Festival. After a month-long business trip to Africa visiting an international film festival and several film events, Ayuko Babu, executive director of PAFF along with director of programming Asantewa Olatunji returned to Los Angeles with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). Considered the African Oscars, AMAA held its ninth award ceremony on April 20, 2013 in Yenagoa, Nigeria, the Bayelsa state capital, honoring top films and performances from Africa and its Diaspora.
“It’s very humbling to receive such a prestigious honor from the African Movie Academy,” said Babu. “It’s thrilling for the work of the Pan African Film Festival to be recognized on this level by the international film community. It’s also a testament to the contribution and global impact this film festival has made in bringing stories from around the world to American audiences.”
Earlier this year, PAFF also received the first ever Special Achievement Award in the Film Festival Category by African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), recognizing its contribution to cinematic arts.
The Pan African Film & Arts Festival is an official event of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa’s Celebration of African American Heritage Month. PAFF is sponsored by Union Bank; Macy’s; Wells Fargo Bank; General Motors; Sony Pictures, CareMore; Water Replenishment District of Southern California; South African Airways; the National Film and Video Foundation; One Village; Addco Party Rentals; TestFlick; O.N.E. Coconut Water; Dama Tequila and Mascarade Liqueur; the Department of Cultural Affairs, the City of Los Angeles; the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; as well as Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (Second District) and Los Angeles City Council members Bernard C. Parks (District 8), Jan Perry (District 9), and council president Herb J. Wesson Jr. (District 10).
ABOUT AMAA
The Africa Movie Academy Awards, AMAA is an offshoot of the Africa Film Academy. The Academy founded on the best film tradition, is geared towards research, training and propagating film making in Africa. Behind it are film producers, directors, designers, writers, critics and scholars who share in the belief of a renaissant African film.
AMAA is thus conceptualized as an annual celebration of the brightest and the best in African movie. It is about class and style, blitz, glitz and razzmatazz. It is the biggest gathering of movie makers across the African continent and the diaspora. It is to show to the world that the rating of Nollywood (Nigeria) as the third largest producers of movie is real.
ABOUT THE PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Wrapping up its 21st anniversary, the Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF), is America’s largest and most prestigious Black film festival. Each year, it screens more than 150 films made by and/or about people of African descent from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific, Latin America, Europe and Canada. PAFF holds the distinction of being the largest Black History Month event in the country.
PAFF was founded in 1992 by award-winning actor Danny Glover (“The Color Purple,” “Lethal Weapon” movie franchise), Emmy Award-winning actress Ja’Net DuBois (best known for her role as Willona in the tv series, “Good Times”) and executive director, Ayuko Babu, an international legal, cultural and political consultant who specializes in African Affairs. PAFF is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of ethnic and racial respect and tolerance through the exhibit of films, art and creative expression.
The goal of PAFF is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images, help to destroy negative stereotypes and depict an expanded vision of the Black experience. PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.
For more information, please visit www.paff.org or call (310) 337-4737.