JUDGES


Anthony Kan Onwordi

known as Toni Kan (born 11 June 1971) is a Nigerian writer, editor, public relations senior management executive, and teacher. He is author of the collection of short stories, Nights of a Creaking Bed, noted for exploring themes on African sexuality, and published by Cassava Republic (Nigerian publishers of writers such as Teju Cole). He was the winner of the NDDC/Ken Saro Wiwa literature prize, awarded by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), in 2009.

Kan studied English literature at the University of Jos and earned an M.A in English literature at the University of Lagos in 1999, graduating at the top of his class. He became a magazine editor at the age of 26.

Kunle Afolayan

is of Igbomina-Yoruba descent, from Kwara State. He is the son of the famous theater and film director and producer Ade Love. He majored in economics and started out working in a bank while doing some casual acting, before deciding to move into full-time filmmaking and taking a course at the New York Film Academy. Since 2005 he has been active in the Nigerian film industry.

He has made several extremely popular titles including: The Figurine: Araromire which was in the Yoruba and English languages and Phone Swap which featured Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Nse Ikpe Etim and the legendary Chika Okpala. The Figurine won five major awards in the African Film Academy and experienced tremendous success in the Nigerian movie theater While for Figurine – going from Irapada to Figurine was a bold step. Figurine was a step that nobody in this country has ever tried before,
Kunle Afolayan is now one the most prolific film makers in Nigeria, he is one of the few film makers who was able to propel African films into cinemas. Nollywood is mainly a home video industry, which means once a film is completed, the videos are distributed straight to DVD distributors. so in Nigeria, only a small number of films make it to the cinema. but Kunle Afoloyan changed this, he was able to draw the Nigerian audience by creating films that are worthy of the African cinema and the international market at large.

One of his movies Figurine was nominated in 10 categories at the 2010 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) the film received great reviews both locally and internationally. His other films include Irapada which means redemption in Yoruba and Phone swap was also welcomed by Nigerian audiences.

After the release of october 1 movie Kunle Afolayan became the producer of the second highest grossing Nigerian of all time, the movie gained a lot of awards and positive reviews.

As of 2015 Kunle annouced another film in the making a movie titled "The CEO" many Nigerians already fell in love with the movie before its release following the social media talks.

Victoria Thomas

is a BAFTA nominated producer, writer and founder of The Polkadot Factory a UK based publishing and Production Company. An Alumnus of the UK's National Film and Television School, she also holds an MFA in Advanced Film Practice from Screen Academy Scotland, an MA in Business Law from the University of Portsmouth and a law degree from the University of Birmingham.

Most recently she produced the feature documentary and coffee table photo biography books, Between Rings, about 7-time world welterweight champion Esther Phiri from Zambia for YLE the national broadcaster in Finland and Zambia's boxing Star for Al Jazeera.

She is currently the Creative Director for The Manuscripts an annual search for unpublished manuscripts with a screen potential from Africa and its Diaspora produced in partnership with Story Republic. She is also a guest lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art, the National Film & Television School (UK) and the London Film Academy.

She is the founder of Trigah a cinema on demand app and Cues, a film discovery app. She was nominated for and won the Techpreneurs Women In Tech Award and the UK Next Generation Digital Challenge for Creative Entrepreneurs in the digital sector.

She runs The Polkadot Factory, a UK based production company that specializes in developing and packaging films for the international market.

Wana Wana

is a multimedia journalist, writer, poet and filmmaker. Her work is at the intersection of women’s rights, human interest stories, art and culture.

She has worked as a freelance features producer and presenter for the BBC Radio4, BBC world service and Resonance FM.
She has been a freelance writer and contributor for Aljazeera Online, Guardian UK, Guardian Nigeria, NEXT, BellaNaija and the Huffington Post.

In 2016 she was long listed for the One World Media award in the Women’s rights in Africa award category, for her story on the Mirabel rape crisis centre for Aljazeera.
She is a recipient of the International Reporting Project(IRP) fellowship and the Gabriel Garcia Marquez fellowship.

As a short fiction writer and an alumni of the Farafina Creative Writers Workshop, her short stories and poems have been published in anthologies and online journals. She is a performance poet who has graced the stages of numerous festivals across the African continent and her spoken word album titled ‘Dirty Laundry’ was released in 2013. Her poems have been featured at the British Library’s Word, Symbol and Song exhibition.

In 2015 along with Bukola Oye of The Sole Adventurer blog, Wana co-founded the discourse initiative Art Forum Africa a platform for discourse concerning the visual arts.Wana graduated from the University for The Creative Arts with a first class degree in Journalism.Wana is also involved in providing creative consulting services and promotion for the arts. She is creative director for the content creation company WanaWana productions. She love food, travel, hiking and people.

She has worked extensively as a partner with The Life House’s Woman Rising events, Lights, Camera Africa! film festival, the British council’s Lagos Theatre Festival, the British Council’s Creative Hustle events , the Goethe Institut’s Lagos Live Festival, Ake festival , Afropolitan vibes and many more. She has also worked as an influencer with brands like Always, Mall For Africa, Heineken, Dettol, Jumia, So Fresh Market and Mostelle 360.


PAST JUDGES

2010

CEO, ReadManna (Nigerian Rep - Certiport Microsoft Office and Adobe World Championships for Students).

Mrs Edna Agusto, the Managing Director of ReadManna explained that the objective of this national competition is to encourage our schools to include the acquisition of basic computer skills in their curriculum, which would prepare the students with computing expertise in the classroom and after they graduate.

ReadManna Ventures Limited conducts the Certiport Worldwide competition on Microsoft Office annually. The competition challenges students to demonstrate their proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This competition is open to all secondary school and university students aged between 13 and 22 years, with proof of enrolment at an academic institution.

This competition currently going on in over 70 countries, was held for a period of 7 months, December 2009 to 30 June 2010. The winners will represent Nigeria at the 8th Certiport Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office to be held in Utah, USA in August 2010.

known as Toni Kan (born 11 June 1971) is a Nigerian writer, editor, public relations senior management executive, and teacher. He is author of the collection of short stories, Nights of a Creaking Bed, noted for exploring themes on African sexuality, and published by Cassava Republic (Nigerian publishers of writers such as Teju Cole). He was the winner of the NDDC/Ken Saro Wiwa literature prize, awarded by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), in 2009.

Kan studied English literature at the University of Jos and earned an M.A in English literature at the University of Lagos in 1999, graduating at the top of his class. He became a magazine editor at the age of 26.

also known as Lola Maja-Okojevoh, is a Nigerian make-up artist; her speciality include: special effects, eyebrows and eyelashes. She is also a massage therapist, beauty tutor, and Spa and Cosmetics Brand Consultant.

She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of "Sacred Beauty"; she is known for working on several major fashion events and on major films such as The Figurine and October 1, as well as several music videos.

She has done make-up for celebrities such as Genevieve Nnaji and Tiwa Savage. She also has worked with major fashion magazines, such as Style Mania and FAB, as well as models like Iman and Tyson Beckford.

In 2015, she won the "Best Make-up" Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award for October .