Nse Ikpe Etim heads to Durban for DIFF 2018 as juror

Notable Nollywood actress Nse Ikpe Etim has earned a continental pip. The multi-award winning actress has been named a juror for the fiction film section of the 39th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), which takes place from 19 to 29 July, in Durban, South Africa. The statement from the DIFF organizers also named British – Nigerian actor Hakeem Kae Kazim and award winning South African producer Bongiwe Selane as other jurors on the fiction section. Star of the award winning movie by Chinwe Egwuagwu ‘Mr and Mrs’, Nse has been doing well on the movie turf since she made a come back to Nollywood after her university education and a brief stint in the corporate world in the early 2000. Nse, who confirmed that she would be heading to Durban from the United Kingdom, stated that she considered it an ‘honour and indeed a huge recognition’ to have been invited to serve on the jury of ‘such an international and important film festival as DIFF’.

But the multiple award-winning actress who DIFF audiences will not forget for her role in the celebrated Meg Rickards’ film Tess is not the only Nigerian on the jury.

Mahmood Ali-Balogun

•••Ali-Balogun On Documentary Jury
Notable filmmaker Mahmood Ali-Balogun is also on the jury but in the documentary film category. Ali-Balogun, producer and director of the multiple award winning film ‘Tango With Me’ will be on the documentary jury that will include Nakai Matema, a veteran Zimbabwean Producer who has produced several ground-breaking documentaries and Dorothee Wenner, a Berlin-based freelance filmmaker, writer and curator who has been on the selection committee of Berlin’s International Forum since 1990 and serves as the Berlinale’s Delegate for India and sub- Saharan Africa. Wenner is also on the Board of Jurors of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). A number of feature films, documentaries and shorts will be shown over 10 days in different locations in Durban. The DIFF is organised by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts in partnership with the Thekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office and other valuable partners.

The Festival also features the Isiphethu industry programme, outreach activities, the Durban FilmMart, a co-production market in partnership with Ethekwini Municipality’s Durban Film Offeice, Talents Durban, in cooperation with the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Wavescape Surf Film Festival. Information on the festival can be sourced at www.durbanfilmfest.co.za