About a Boy, a story about the psychological games played between a writer and his muse by first-time director Diji Aderogba has won the Audience Appreciation award known as the Prix du Public. The award is the highest honor at the 2021 Nollywoodweek film festival.
The announcement of the winning film marked the end of the 2021 edition of the Festival, where 15 feature-length and 18 short films from Africa and the African Diaspora were showcased to a global audience. For the first time in its 8-year history, Nollywoodweek streamed all the films exclusively online.
Commenting on the festival, Festival Director Nadira Shakur said, “We were delighted to see that the global audience showed up to support and celebrate Nigerian talent and ingenuity in film-making. This year we showcased films from the rest of the continent and the Diaspora and saw a genuine interest in and appreciation for incredible stories such as About a Boy as evidenced by the Prix du Public.”
Speaking on the win, the film’s director Diji Aderogba said, “I’m grateful to God. I’m so happy for Adio and Funmi, my producers. They put in a lot of hard work. Being a part of this film festival and winning the Audience Award is just amazing.”
Director Diji Aderogba will receive use of a range of top-of-the-line lenses from the Angénieux brand with which to shoot their next film. Previous winners include international Nollywood favorites such as The Wedding Party, Isoken and King of Boys.
In addition to film screenings, the 4-day film festival offered audiences interactive sessions to ask questions after each film. Panel discussions on screenwriting, funding within the African animation sector and distributing African content were also held.