*Nestled in Downtown Inglewood, California on South Market Street is the Miracle Theatre, a cute and quaint venue that has only been in business for less than three years, but between the visionary owner (Owen Smith) and the acoustics, it has the potential to become a go-to establishment for concerts, plays and movie screenings in the LA area. That leads us to tell you about the latest event held at the Miracle Theatre: The Los Angeles Nollywood Film Awards (LANFA), the brainchild of filmmaker King Bassey, who hails from Akwa lbom, Nigeria.
The black tie evening with an international flair began with a red carpet event, in which EURweb.com’s headman Lee Bailey and yours truly were a part of, in addition to celebrities that included Gloria Hendry, the first African-American Bond girl (“Live and Let Die”) and veteran actor Mel Novak, who was reunited with Gloria Hendry, his “Black Belt Jones” co-star.
The show was co-hosted by Motown Maurice (Snake Outta Compton) and Oge ILoghalu.  I will have to admit I was a bit thrown off when the show began with a mariachi band, who performed not one, but three songs. I was not expecting a mariachi band at an event showcasing films made in Africa. I had to remind myself that an international theme was in play and that various countries were being represented, not just Africa.
I felt like order had been restored when there was a fashion show displaying fashions from africamadeit.com. Although the vibrant colored fashions were mostly jackets with removable sleeves, pair them with the right jeans and shoes and you will have a winning outfit. The other entertainment for the evening was Nigerian-American singer Chae Rose and her all girl band. Chae Rose had a set of pipes on her and her band, mostly Asian, were on point as well. I think they are on to something.
A litany of industry people were on hand for the evening, including Honorees actress Alice Amter (The Big Bang Theory); actress and radio personality Amber Lynn (Who’s Jenna?); Producer Anoush Sadegh (First Born), nominated filmmakers Dustin Ferguson (Nemesis 5: The New Model), former five-time World Kickboxing Champion Grandmaster and filmmaker Robert Parham (Jackson Bolt), Dawna Lee Heising (Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance) and Vida Ghaffari (The Mindy Project), among many others. I have to admit that I had not heard of most of the attendees and looked forward to seeing and hearing about them. I was suitably impressed.
LANFA is not on the scale of the Academy Awards, Golden Globe or even any of the lower level film awards; however, I really like what they are about, which includes rewarding some of the individuals not normally awarded. Many of the award recipients mentioned they had never received an award before, so I enjoyed watching people being recognized for the first time for their effort. My hope for LANFA is that it grows bigger and stronger each year.
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer. Contact her via [email protected].
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