AFRICA ENTERTAINMENT NEWS 

Popular Nollywood-Ghollywood actor, Van Vicker has been honored with a creative award during the Pan African Film Festival held in Los Angeles, California.

The pan Africa film festival is the most prestigious international film festival in the US. He was given the award of the African movie actor of the year.

One of Van Vicker’s movies, Paparazzi: Eye in the Dark will be screened this Saturday, February 11 during the festival.

The award is also called Africa Channel’s Creative Award. The award was presented yesterday, 10thFebruary, 2012 at 8:00 PM in Los Angeles, California.

Van is listed among seven others who organizers say have impacted immensely on their fields and contributed diversely to the development of stage, television and film production among blacks.

In a citation, organizers of the awards described Van Vicker as “one of Africa’s hottest movie stars, he’s one of the most sought-after Nollywood actors. The award-winning actor has appeared in more than 100 movies, including Paparazzi: Eye in the Dark, Royal Treasure, Return of Beyonce and his newly directed movie, Hands of Time. He was nominated twice for an African Movie Academy Award.”

Among the eight special awardees, the Pan African Film Festival also honored award-winning actress Loretta Devine with its highest honor for this year, Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on stage, television and film.

The six other recipients include, Meagan Good – Beah Richards Rising Star Actress Award, David Oyelowo – Canada Lee Rising Star Actor Award, Mr. Leon Garr – Community Treasure Award, Jewel Thais-Williams – Community Service Award, Jimmy Jean-Louis – The Africa Channel Diasporan Award, Eric Kabera and the Rwanda Cinema Centre – The Africa Channel Visionary Award.

The star-studded event was highly attended by the who’s who in Black Hollywood and is by far the biggest extravaganza during the film festival. The award ceremony kicked off with red-carpet festivities and was followed by a reception.

The ceremony was recorded and televised by the Africa Channel and its affiliates, and was aired internationally throughout the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe.

One of Van’s movies, Paparazzi: Eye in the Dark will be screened this Saturday, February 11 during the festival.

PAFF was founded in 1992 by award-winning actor Danny Glover, Emmy Award-winning actress, Ja’Net DuBois and executive director, Ayuko Babu, an international legal, cultural and political consultant who specializes in African Affairs.

PAFF is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of ethnic and racial respect and tolerance through the exhibit of films, art and creative expression. The goal of PAFF is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images, help to destroy negative stereotypes and depict an expanded vision of the “Blackexperience”.

PAFF holds the belief that film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.

This year’s festival selected a total of 160 films, representing 30 countries, 91 feature length films (narrative and documentaries) and 67 short films.

The festival will hand out prizes for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Narrative Feature, and Best First Feature Film, as well as audience favorite awards at the close of the festival.