Joel Kachi Benson

Last updated
Joel Kachi Benson
NationalityNigerian
Alma mater Central Film School, Aptech
OccupationFilmmaker

Joel Kachi Benson is a Nigerian documentary filmmaker and virtual reality content creator. [1] [2] In 2019, he produced Daughters of Chibok , [3] [4] a virtual reality film on the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping. He is the Creative Director of virtual reality film studios VR360 Stories in Lagos, Nigeria. [5] [6]

Contents

Background and career

Benson is from Aba, Abia state. [7] He attended Pampers Private School Lagos, College of the Immaculate Conception, Enugu and Umuagbai Secondary School, Aba. He has a diploma certificate in software engineering and a certificate in Information Systems Management from Aptech. He also has a Certificate in Filmmaking Central Film School, London. [8]

In 2018, Benson produced In Bakassi, the first VR documentary by a Nigerian filmmaker. [9] [10] The film tells the story of a orphaned boy living with PTSD in one of the largest camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Maiduguri, Borno State. In Bakassi premiered at the Cairo Film Festival in November 2018, and also screened at the Berlin Film Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. [11] [12] In 2019, Benson produced Daughters of Chibok , which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and won the Venice Lion for Best Immersive Story (Linear), making Benson the first African filmmaker to win the Venice Lion in this category. [13] [14]

Awards

At the 2019 Venice International Film Festival, his film Daughters of Chibok, [15] won "The Best VR Story" award becoming the first African to win the award. [13] [16]

In December 2019, Kachi Benson was named among the New African magazine's Top 100 Most Influential Africans. [17] [18] In February 2020, Daughters of Chibok, was listed on the Forbes Top 50 XR Experiences of 2019. [19]

Filmography

YearTitle
2013 Olu Amoda: A Metallic Journey [14] [20]
2014 JD Okhai Ojeikere: Master Photographer [21] [22]
2018In Bakassi [12] [23] [11] [24] [4]
2019Daughters of Chibok [25] [4]

Related Research Articles

Film festival Event with films being shown

A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some festivals focus on a specific filmmaker, genre of film, or subject matter. Several film festivals focus solely on presenting short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals as official releases of the film.

The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is produced by Cinequest, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is also responsible for Picture The Possibilities and the distribution label Cinequest Mavericks Studio LLC. Cinequest awards the annual Maverick Spirit Awards. In addition to over 130 world or U.S. premieres from over 30 countries, the festival hosts writer's events including screenwriting competitions, a shorts program, technology and artistic forums and workshops, student programs, and a silent film accompanied on the theatre organ. Founded in 1990 as the Cinequest Film Festival, the festival was rebranded in 2017 as the Cinequest Film & VR Festival and expanded beyond downtown San Jose to Redwood City. It took its present name in 2019.

Sheffield DocFest Documentary festival in Sheffield, England

Sheffield DocFest, short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 2018, TDF is one of the 28 festivals included in the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List. TDF is organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival cultural institution, which further organizes the annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held every November. French producer Elise Jalladeu is TDF's general director; film critic Orestes Andreadakis serves as its director.

Samir Mallal is a Canadian filmmaker whose work touches commercials, virtual reality, and documentaries. Samir is based in Los Angeles, California.

Anand Gandhi Indian film director

Anand Gandhi is an Indian filmmaker, entrepreneur, media producer, innovator and systems researcher. He is also the founder/CEO of the Mumbai-based new media studio and systems think tank Memesys Culture Lab. His debut feature film Ship of Theseus (2013), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival won the National Film Award for Best Picture.

The Byron Bay Film Festival is a popular AACTA Awards accredited independent awards-based film event held in the late Australian summer at the Byron Community & Cultural Centre, in the coastal town of Byron Bay.

Dekker Dreyer American filmmaker, artist, and composer

Dekker Dreyer is an American filmmaker, artist, and composer also known as Phantom Astronaut. He is a prominent creator in virtual and augmented reality.

Mika Johnson American film director (born 1975)

Mika Johnson is a multimedia artist mainly known for his work with virtual reality,. His work combines dream-like narratives, mythos, ritual, and biodiversity.

Nonny de la Peña American journalist

Nonny de la Peña is an American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and entrepreneur.

Within (company) Technology company

Within is a technology company based in Los Angeles that creates, acquires, and distributes 360-degree video, AR, and VR experiences and products across web, mobile, console, and headsets.

Gary Yost American filmmaker and software designer

Gary Yost is an American filmmaker and software designer, best known for leading the team that created Autodesk 3ds Max.

Nyla Innuksuk Canadian Inuit film director

Nyla Innuksuk is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, and virtual reality content creator. She is the CEO of Mixtape VR.

Gabo Arora

Gabo Arora is an American filmmaker, creative technologist and Founder/CEO of LIGHTSHED, a studio focusing on emerging technologies. He is a professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he is the Founding Director of the new Immersive Storytelling and Emerging Technology (ISET) program and lab. Formerly, he was a Senior Policy Advisor for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN's first Creative Director, with over 15 years of field experience. He has directed, produced and pioneered a series of virtual reality documentaries for the United Nations that have premiered at film festivals, featured at the World Economic Forum in Davos, screened at the White House, and have exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art's inaugural program on immersive storytelling.

<i>Daughters of Chibok</i> Nigerian short film

Daughters of Chibok is an 11-minute Nigerian short film. The virtual reality documentary tells the story of Yana Galang, whose daughter, Rifkatu, was among the 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014 from their school dormitory in Chibok, northeast Nigeria. The film was made to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping.

We Are One: A Global Film Festival is an international online film festival which took place in 2020. Organized by Tribeca Enterprises in conjunction with YouTube as a response to the cancellation of many traditional film festivals during the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival screened a selection of films for free on YouTube between May 29 and June 7.

Denis Semionov Russian artist

Denis Semionov - is a Russian new media artist.

Hsin-Chien Huang is an artist, director in mixed media area. Science, technology, new media, programming, and algorithms are tools he uses to bring the universe of his imagination to life. He served as artistic director for SEGA and Sony. Huang collaborated with pioneering American media artist Laurie Anderson and their VR work La Camera Insabbiata/Chalkroom which won the Best VR experience Award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival(it was the first edition of the festival that introduced its virtual-reality section); his work Bodyless was also nominated in the 76th of the festival. In 2011，Huang received by president of Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou and granted as one of the "Pride of Taiwan" honor.

Sophia Nahli Allison is an American documentary filmmaker and photographer. Her documentary short A Love Song for Latasha (2019) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. It debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Allison’s 2021 extended reality piece “Pluto” screened in the New Frontiers section of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Elizabeth Woodward is an American film producer and founder of Willa Productions. She has worked on The Great Hack (2019), The Vow (2020) and You Resemble Me (2021).

References

  1. ↑ Aisha Salaudeen; Stephanie Busari (8 September 2019). "Documentary on missing Chibok schoolgirls wins at Venice Film Festival". CNN. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  2. ↑ "'Daughters of Chibok' wins big at Venice Film Festival". The Eagle Online. 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  3. ↑ "'Daughters of Chibok' wins award at Venice Film Festival". 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  4. 1 2 3 "'Daughters of Chibok' makes it to Venice Film Festival". Punch Newspapers. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  5. ↑ "Nigerian filmmaker's VR documentary on the missing Chibok girls wins at Venice Film Festival". www.pulse.ng. 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  6. ↑ "'Daughters Of Chibok' Africa's Only Virtual Reality Film To Make United States' Film Festival". Sahara Reporters. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  7. ↑ "My agenda for making Daughters of Chibok –Joel 'Kachi Benson". The Sun Nigeria. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  8. ↑ Oludimu, Titilola (2019-09-18). "A Nigerian VR filmmaker's journey to international acclaim at the 2019 Venice Film Festival". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  9. ↑ "Kachi Benson's 'In Bakassi' goes to Berlinale film festival". Pulse Nigeria. 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  10. ↑ Kolawole, Oluwanifemi (2019-10-02). "How Nigerian VR startups are warming their way into mainstream acceptance". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  11. 1 2 "'In Bakassi' to Screen at Hot Docs Festival". The Nation Newspaper. 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  12. 1 2 "In Bakassi lights up Berlin Film Festival". guardian.ng. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  13. 1 2 "Daughters Of Chibok puts Benson on global stage". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  14. 1 2 "Lights Camera Action Film Festival Synopses Africa cont'd". guardian.ng. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  15. ↑ "Nwaafọ Igbo eritela nturuugo n'ihe nkiri na mba ofesi". 2019-09-08. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  16. ↑ How Joel Kachi Benson used VR to produce Daughters of Chibok documentary , retrieved 2019-11-19
  17. ↑ "100 Most Influential Africans". newafricanmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  18. ↑ "Who are the New African Magazine MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICANS of 2019 and why? - New African Magazine". newafricanmagazine.com. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  19. ↑ Damiani, Jesse. "The Top 50 XR Experiences Of 2019". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  20. ↑ "iREP 2015: Film journey into Africa's richness". The Nation Newspaper. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  21. ↑ "Ojeikere documentary goes international". The Nation Newspaper. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  22. ↑ "Africiné". www.africine.org. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  23. ↑ "Kachi Benson's 'In Bakassi' goes to Berlinale film festival". Pulse Nigeria. 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  24. ↑ "Venice Film Festival: Joel Kachi Benson Wins Best Virtual Reality Story". ZODML. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  25. ↑ "BBC World Service - Newsday, Chibok documentary wins film award". BBC. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.