Nollywood rising stars, Tobi Bakre, Ini-Abasi Jeffrey and Linda Leila Diatta have been selected as part of this year's Berlinale Talents.
The Berlinale Talents is an important part of the annual Berlin International Film Festival, which will be held in Berlin between February 17-22, 2024. The three Nigerians are part of the 11 Africans selected in the long list of eligible candidates.
On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the organisers announced 202 selected filmmakers from 68 countries, who will be exposed to the Berlin film industry and its audience through numerous talks, workshops and public discussions.
Since leaving the reality show BBNaija, Bakre haas become for his compelling bad-boy roles in Brotherhood, Gangs Of Lagos and most recently Slum King. He acknowledged the selection on Twitter with a simple post that reads "Awesome God."
The other African talents selected are Slim Baccar (Tunisia), Niza Jay (South Africa), Wangechi Ngugi (Kenya), Maisha Maene (DR Congo), Aline Amike (Rwandan-born selected for Germany), Chloé Ortolé (Senegal), Advik Beni (South Africa), Morad Mostafa (Egypt), and Fatima Wardy (Sudanese born selected from the US).
According to the press release by the organisers, "All 202 Talents (116 female, 76 male, 10 diverse) work in the disciplines of acting, cinematography, directing, film distribution, film journalism, production, set and digital set design, screenwriting, sound design, score composition, film editing, world sales and audience design (meaning curators and cinema owners)."