 |
Oliver O. Mbamara | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Citizenship | Nigerian |
| Alma mater | University of Lagos |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, Actor, Writer, Poet, and Lawyer |
| Notable work | Slave Warrior This America The Return of the Spade On The Run Again Cultures TV Series Spade: The Last Assignment |
| Website | https://olivermbamara.com |
Oliver O. Mbamara is a Nigerian filmmaker, [1] actor, writer, poet, and lawyer.
After graduating in Law from the University of Lagos and Nigerian Law School, he practiced law in Nigeria while simultaneously engaging in writing scripts and poetic pieces in which he also performed and while touring around Nigeria with a theater troupe called Prime Circle. He later moved to the United States where he passed the New York State bar examination and was subsequently admitted to practice as an attorney. He has been serving as an administrative law judge with the State of New York for the past two decades, beginning in 2000.
Aside from his professional training as a lawyer, Mbamara is a published writer, poet, publisher, editor, actor, filmmaker, director [2] , and more. He continues to simultaneously make an impact in these various fields. Mbamara is an international freelance writer as well as a columnist with several national, international and regional news magazines news journals, newspapers, and online magazines. His audience is spread around the world and cuts across genres, tribes, races, gender, and profession. Mbamara's articles, poems, and editorials are regularly featured in newspapers, magazines, and websites around the world. He has published numerous books including: Gates of Tangled Leaves, An Afterlife Experience, 2024,African Tales Under The Moonlight [3] , 2020,Why Are We Here? 2004, Flame of Love, The Unrestricted, 2004, Flame of Love, The Spark of God, 2002, Love Poems and Quotes, 2003, Poems of Life, 2nd Edition, 2002, Poems of Life, 2001.
In 2001, a few years after arriving in the United States, Mbamara launched his first book Poems of Life and played the lead-actor role in an off-Broadway dance drama, Prof. Chudis' Prisoner of the Kalakiri. In 2003, Mbamara directed and played the lead in the stage recreation of Zulu Sofola's Wedlock of the Gods, in New York. Mbamara has since then written, directed and produced several feature films [4] : This America, the groundbreaking Nollywood film in diaspora adapted from his novel about the conflicts of an African immigrant in America. Slave Warrior, an African historical action thriller that tells the story of the slave trade from the African perspective. Spade: The Last Assignment, which addresses the issue of human and artifact trafficking from Africa to the Europe and America. On The Run Again, the sequel to This America. The Return of Spade, the second instalment in his Spade Movie Series. His latest feature film Adopted, is in post production and is due for release soon. Mbamara has just completed the screenplay adaptation of his new novel Gates of Tangled Leaves, and is presently working on another epic novel, titled Ways of Our Ancestors, A Moonlight Tale, which looks at life, governance, and co-existence in a pre-colonial African community in place known today as south-eastern Nigeria.
Trail Blazing, and Leadership
Besides his previous pioneering roles such as the scripting and production of the ground breaking Nollywood/African classic film, This America, which emboldened and ushered in African filmmaking in the USA at the dawn of the century, Mbamara continues to blaze the trail, building bridges, and creating opportunities for African artists and content producers in African film and theater through his works and leadership in the African entertainment community in North America. He is the current president of the Nollywood Producers Guild USA [5] , an association of like-minded film producers who represent, promote and protect the interests of Nollywood (Nigerian/African) producers and participants in African film, television, and entertainment media in North America while sharing and promoting African culture and creativity through the African perspective.
Mbamara has also delved into television production and created, wrote, and directed Cultures. Cultures aims at tolerance amongst differing cultures using humor. In it, an African chief sent from Africa by his kinsmen to bring a wife to their son Ozobio who has stayed too long in America without returning home, arrives America to find out that Ozobio is engaged to an American woman. The chief's persistence leads to a conflict of cultures with the American woman and ultimately to Ozobio's dilemma. [6] Mbamara has now adapted the production to a webisodes billed to run as a weekly comedy drama series on his Youtube Channel [7] under the title Zebrudaya in America (The Chronicles of Ozobio) featuring Nigeria and Africa's television legendary veteran comedian Chief Chika Okpala (MON) aka, Chief Zebrudaya Okorigwe Nwogbo, alias 4:30.
Awards and Recognition
Mbamara has received several awards in recognition of his achievements in various fields including: The Nigeria Centenary Achievement Award (NCAA) USA (2014). The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by the Board of MARQUIS WHO’S WHO (2017)." The 2015 LANFA Legendary Movie Achievement Award USA. The 2013 Nigerian Sports & Cultural Award for “Contributions to the Nigerian Movie Industry.” The 2012 GRIOTS Film Festival Recognition For “Dedication & Commitment to African Cinema.” The 2012 Nations of Pan Africa Best Movie Director Award. The 2012 NAFCA Best Cinematography Award. The 2011 Nollywood USA “Legendary Achievement Award.” The 2011 Nigerian Promoters Association (USA) “Best Movie Producer of the Year Award.” The 2008 Afro Heritage Immigrant Award. The 2008 Afro-Hollywood USA Legendary Award. The 2002 – International Poet of Merit Award, among others.
The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood, consists of films produced in Nigeria; its history dates back to as early as the late 19th century and into the colonial era in the early 20th century. The history and development of the Nigerian motion picture industry is sometimes generally classified in four main eras: the Colonial era, Golden Age era, Video film era and the emerging New Nigerian cinema era.
Richard Eyimofe Evans Mofe-Damijo, popularly known as RMD, is a Nigerian actor, writer, producer, lawyer, and former journalist. He was also a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Delta State in 2009. In 2005, he won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2016.
Pascal Atuma is a Canadian-Nigerian actor, screenwriter, film producer, director, and CEO/Chairman of TABIC Record Label. Pascal was born in Ikwuano Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. He attended Government College, Umuahia, and attended the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. He also attended KD Conservatory-College of Film & Dramatic Arts in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was also awarded a Certificate in Entrepreneurship Specialization from the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States.
Adebayo Mosobalaje Faleti was Africa's first newscaster, Africa's first stage play director, Nigeria's first film editor and librarian with the first television station in Africa - Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), Nigeria's first Yoruba presenter on television and radio alike, a Nigerian poet, journalist, writer, Nollywood film director and actor. He was also known as a Yoruba translator, a broadcaster, TV exponent and pioneer of the first television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), now known as the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Joseph van Vicker, better known as Van Vicker, is a Ghanaian actor, movie director and humanitarian. He is the chief executive officer of Sky + Orange production, a film production house. Van Vicker received two nominations for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and "Best Upcoming Actor" at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2008.
Osita Iheme MFR is a veteran Nigerian actor, producer and author. He is widely known for playing the role of Pawpaw in the film Aki na Ukwa alongside Chinedu Ikedieze. Osita Iheme is the founder of Inspired Movement Africa which he founded to inspire, motivate and stimulate the minds of young Nigerians and Africans. In 2007, Iheme received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. He is considered to be one of Nigeria's most famous actors. In 2011, Osita Iheme was honored as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) by President Goodluck Jonathan. He has an estimated net worth of 560 million naira.
Chinedu Ikedieze, MFR is a Nigerian actor, entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for playing alongside Osita Iheme in the 2002 film Aki na Ukwa. He has featured in over 150 films in a career spanning over 20 years. He has acted in the role of a kid in most of his films during his early career due to his stature and physical appearance. He is known as Aki for his performance in the film Aki na Ukwa. In 2011, he married fashion designer Nneoma Nwaijah and the couple had their first child in 2012.
The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe and is run through the Africa Film Academy. The awards are aimed at honouring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well as uniting the African continent through arts and culture. The award presentation is attended by numerous media representatives, celebrities, politicians, journalists, actresses and actors from all across the world. The AMA Awards are widely considered to be Africa's most important film event and the most prestigious film award in Africa. A variety of international observers have fondly called the African Movie Academy Awards the "African Oscars".
Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs,, known professionally as Olu Jacobs, is a Nigerian actor and film executive. He has starred in several British television series and international films. Olu Jacobs has been hailed by many as one of the greatest and most widely respected African actors of his generation. Together with Pete Edochie, he is considered by several media, film commentators, critics, and other actors to be one of the most influential African actors of all time, and is widely regarded as a cultural icon. He is seen as the bridge between the old Actors and the new ones.
Anchor Baby is a Nigerian thriller drama film written, directed and produced by Lonzo Nzekwe and starring Omoni Oboli, Sam Sarpong and Terri Oliver. At the 2010 Harlem International Film Festival in New York, the film won the award for Best Film and Omoni Oboli, the protagonist of the film, was awarded the Best Actress award. The film received two nominations at the 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Koby Maxwell, is a Ghanaian musician, singer, actor and producer who currently resides in Washington, D.C. in the United States. He says that his goal is to maintain the authenticity of African music, while incorporating the sounds of others. In June 2010, he became a film producer and executive producer when he hired a US film production company to produce his first Nollywood feature film, entitled Paparazzi Eye in the Dark.
Michelle Bello is a British Nigerian film director and film producer. She is also CEO of a Nigerian-based entertainment and publishing company, Blu Star Entertainment Limited. Bello was born in London, England.
![<i>Phone Swap</i> Film dir. by Kunle Afolayan ; starring Joke Silva ... [et al.]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Phone_Swap_Theatrical_Poster.jpg)
Phone Swap is a 2012 Nigerian romance comedy-drama film written by Kemi Adesoye, directed and produced by Kunle Afolayan. It stars Nse Ikpe Etim, Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Chika Okpala, Lydia Forson and Afeez Oyetoro, and focuses on a series of events unfolding when two polar opposites accidentally exchange phones. The film was conceived after a brief from an advertising agency to create a movie that would cut across ages 15 to 45. It received 4 nominations at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards which includes the category Best Nigerian Film and won the award Achievement in Production Design.
Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject of several controversies.
Moses Inwang is a Nigerian film director, producer, editor and screenwriter best known for classic films in the Nollywood mainstream that speak to societal ills and nagging live issues rarely documented in Nigerian films. In 2012, Inwang gained significant recognition for his directorial work in the psychological thriller Torn, also produced by him, and released in cinemas nationwide in 2013. With multiple nominations, award and recognition bagged from that movie, he went on to direct and produce other hits like Damage, Cold Feet, Stalker, Last 3 digits, Alter Ego, Crazy People, American Driver, Unroyal and lastly Merry Men 2; Ayo Makun (AY)’s blockbuster film, which emerged the 2nd highest-grossing movie of 2019 in Nigeria with a sum of 240 million.
Chief Enyinna Nwigwe is a Nigerian actor, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for playing Nonso in The Wedding Party 2, and playing Tamuno in Black November.
Dr Uzee Usman Adeyemi, is a Nigerian actor and film producer known for his film Voiceless, Mustapha, Anikulapo and A Tribe Called Judah. His ability for fusing Nollywood and Kannywood together won him several awards and recognitions Globally.
Oyekunle Opeyemi Oluwaremi, professionally known as Kunle Remi, is a Nigerian actor, producer, filmmaker, content creator, host, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and model. He was known for his appearance in Falling, Family Forever, Tinsel, and Aníkúlápó. He won the 7th edition of Gulder Ultimate Search in 2010. While studying at the New York Film Academy, he was simultaneously hosting an Internet Television Channel, Celebville 360. He made his first significant hosting appearance at the Academy Awards nomination event in Beverly Hills. By 2012, he was cast in his first movie, Heavy Beauty, produced by Grace Edwin Okon and directed by Stanlee Ohikhuare. Though he graduated in 2014, he returned to study filmmaking and directing, and graduated in 2015.
Chijindu Kelechi Eke is a Nigerian film director. He is the founder of The African Film Festival (TAFF), founder of Village Arts & Film Festival (VILLAFFEST), and the creator of African streaming service, Rootflix. During the coronation in December 2023, he was installed into a chieftaincy role as the "Ichie Ihemba" of Imerienwe in the Imo State of Nigeria.