Nigeria’s aspiring young filmmakers have been gaining international attention while the Nigeria’s film industry, known as Nollywood, has been coping with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adjusting the world’s second most productive film business to social distancing has been costly but it’s also sparking more creativity.  Ifiok Ettang reports from Jos, Nigeria. Camera: Ifiok Ettang …

Nigerian comedy siblings the Ikorudu Boiz went viral in June for their online parody the Hollywood action thriller “Extraction,” using household items and toys as props and their environment in Ikorodu, Lagos for sets.  The video has so far been viewed more than 11 million times on Twitter. Nigeria’s own film industry — Nollywood — has also had to get creative with staying productive and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.    Actor Bashir Datti rehearses his lines as 10 others, including a camera crew,  set up a scene in an open field on the outskirts of Jos, Nigeria.  Datti said the coronavirus has cost him a lot of work.   “This is my first set since this corona of a thing started and what I experienced today is that it is not an easy task,” Datti said. “We’ll just learn to live with the virus, life goes on, we need to adjust ourselves and keep on going, because if you say that because of the fear of the virus, you will not come on set, you have nothing to do apart from film making.”  Movie audiences sit in their parked cars as they watch “Living in Bondage” at a drive-in cinema, following the relaxation of lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Abuja, Nigeria, May 20, 2020.Nollywood produces …

From New York to Alabama to Oregon, many tangible displays of African American culture and heritage are in deep disrepair. Due to a lack of recognition and funding, these spaces are slowly being lost before their full story can be told. But a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation will help maintain 27 historic sites that showcase African American perseverance, activism and contributions to the nation.    The trust’s This Jan. 29, 2019, photo shows homes in Africatown in Mobile, Alabama, established by the last boatload of Africans abducted into slavery and shipped to the United States.“These 27 sites represent examples of Black resilience, activism and excellence. And as a collection, they begin to elevate the historic landscapes and buildings that tell an underrecognized and unappreciated story about the United States,” says Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.   Over the past two years, 65 historic African American sites received more than $4.3 million to help preserve and restore places that exemplify Black life and cultural heritage.Grant recipient “While We Are Still Here” seeks to preserve Harlem history, including buildings that housed a cross section of Black America. (Courtesy While We Are Still Here)Educator Booker T. Washington and Sears Roebuck president Julius Rosenwald built schools like grant recipient May’s Lick in Maysville, …

Last year saw record representation of LGBTQ characters in the 118 films released by major studios, according to a new study by GLAAD. But for the third straight year, the racial diversity of LGBTQ characters has waned and transgender characters again went unseen. GLAAD called the decrease in non-white LGBTQ characters “concerning.” In 2019, 34% of LGBTQ characters were people of color. That’s down from 42% in 2018 and 57% in 2017. “GLAAD is calling on the studios to ensure that within two years at least half of their LGBTQ characters are people of color,” said the advocacy group that tracks representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the media. For the third year in a row, transgender characters were also absent from major studio releases. But overall, GLAAD found higher rates of inclusion than it has in the eight years its been tracking studio films. Of the 118 films studied, 22 (18.6%) included lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer characters. That’s a slight increase from 18.2% in 2018. But none of the studios studied — the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, STX Films and United Artists Releasing — received a …

Nick Cannon apologized to the Jewish community late Wednesday for his “hurtful and divisive” words, a day after ViacomCBS severed ties with him for the remarks made on a podcast.  The Anti-Defamation league and some Jewish leaders had condemned what they called anti-Semitic theories expressed by Cannon and demanded the apology.”First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin,” Cannon said on his Twitter account.”They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.”ViacomCBS cut ties with the TV host and producer Tuesday in response to his comments on a podcast where he discussed racial bias.  Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s associate dean, told The Associated Press that Cannon reached out to him Wednesday and during a 30-minute telephone conversation he apologized to the Jewish community and Cooper asked him to post it on social media.  “He started out the right way, he said the right things. …

Rap superstar Kanye West has qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline. But confusion remains over whether he’s actually running.  A representative for West filed the necessary paperwork and paid the $35,000 filing Wednesday afternoon, which was the deadline for a spot on the state’s Nov. 3 presidential ballot, said Oklahoma Board of Elections spokeswoman Misha Mohr. He was one of three independent presidential candidates to pay the filing fee prior to the deadline, she added. The others were concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce. The filing came a day after New York Magazine’s  “Intelligencer” quoted West adviser Steve Kramer saying “he’s out” and noting that the staff he had hired were disappointed. However, TMZ reported that the West campaign had filed a “Statement of Organization” Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, stating that a Kanye 2020 committee would serve as principal campaign committee for a West candidacy. West has already missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it’s unclear if he is willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others. FILE – Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West arrive at …

In the digital age, you can take acting lessons from Samuel L. Jackson or enjoy basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar personally wishing you a happy birthday. Online firms like Cameo and MasterClass are democratizing access to celebrities by turning the famous into gig economy workers. Tina Trinh reports …

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) remains fully committed to staging the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and is considering multiple scenarios for them to take place safely, IOC President Thomas Bach said Wednesday. Japan and the IOC postponed the Tokyo Games until 2021 in March because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers have since spoken of trying to simplify the event — which had been due to start on July 24 — to reduce costs and ensure athletes’ safety. Bach said the IOC’s coordination commission had reported “very good work in progress” and that more details would be given to a full IOC session which will take place by video conference on Friday. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, attends a meeting of IOC’s executive board in Lausanne, Switzerland, July 15, 2020.”We remain fully committed to celebrating Tokyo 2020 next year in July and August,” Bach told reporters in a conference call. “The entire IOC is following the principle we established before the postponement (in March) that the first priority is about the safety of all participants.” “We continue to be guided by the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) and based on this advice we are preparing multiple scenarios,” he …

New York Philharmonic’s first and only African-American principal player took a stand of his own for the Black Lives Matter movement. In a black-and-white video posted on social media platforms, clarinetist Anthony McGill called on musicians to #taketwoknees for Black lives. Elena Wolf has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.VIDEOGRAPHER: Dmitrii Vershinin, Elena Matusovsky  …

“Glee” star Naya Rivera ‘s 4-year-old son told investigators that his mother, whose body was found in a Southern California lake Monday, boosted him back on to the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water, authorities said.  “She must have mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference.  The boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, was found asleep and alone in a life vest on the drifting pontoon boat about three hours after they launched on Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles, setting off a five-day search that ended with the discovery of the body of the 33-year-old floating near the surface early Monday, authorities said.  The mother and son had gone swimming, which was permitted in that part of the lake, Ayub said. She was not wearing a life vest.  Authorities believe that Rivera drowned accidentally, and that her body was most likely trapped in the vegetation under the lake for several days before floating to the top, Ayub said.  Divers had already thoroughly searched the area where she was eventually found, but …

Anthropologist Lawrence Kuznar isn’t a fan of Confederate statues, but he feels Americans have a lesson to learn from them. “I’m not necessarily against taking them down,” says the professor of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, who is in the process of retiring.“It’s easy to get emotional and excited in a group and go tear down a monument. It absolutely does nothing to address a deep racial and political divide that really seems to be tearing this country apart. Even lawfully removing them, I think, should be done in a thoughtful way.” As the Black Lives Matter protests gained momentum nationwide in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody, some demonstrators took it upon themselves to bring the statues down. Other monuments are being removed by local authorities. Overall, dozens of statues have been removed, and countless others vandalized nationwide.  Isaiah Bowen, right, takes a shot as his dad, Garth Bowen, center, looks on at a basketball hoop in front of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, June 21, 2020.In addition to Confederate statues, other monuments that are viewed as symbols of oppression and systemic racism are also being targeted. On Independence Day, a crowd tore down a statue …

A New York state judge lifted a stay on Monday that had temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s niece from publishing a book offering an unflattering look at the U.S. president and his family. Justice Hal Greenwald of the state Supreme Court in Poughkeepsie, New York, denied the request to stop publication and canceled the temporary restraining order he issued on June 30 against Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, at the request of Robert Trump, the brother of the president. Simon & Schuster was due to release the book on Tuesday. Robert Trump said previously that the release of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” would violate a confidentiality agreement tied to the estate of his father, Fred Trump Sr., who died in 1999. Mary Trump, a trained psychologist, is Fred Trump’s granddaughter. “Notwithstanding that the Book has been published and distributed in great quantities, to enjoin Mary L. Trump at this juncture would be incorrect and serve no purpose,” Greenwald said in his decision. “It would be moot. … To quote United States v. Bolton, 2020, ‘By the looks of it the horse is not just out of the barn, it is out of the country,’” he wrote. Mary Trump’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous, said in a statement: “The court got it right in …

After a Paris auction house defied his requests and those of Nigerian authorities to halt the sale of artifacts over questions of provenance, a scholar says he’ll push harder for repatriating cultural treasures. “For those who think the story is over, it’s not. We are just beginning,” said Chika Okeke-Agulu, a Princeton University professor of African and American diaspora art, whose Twitter petition for #BlackArtsMatter has drawn thousands of supporters.   Okeke-Agulu’s comments followed Christie’s June 29 auction, which included the sale of Nigerian artifacts, including two Igbo sacred statues. The pair sold to an anonymous buyer for $239,000, NigeriaIn mid-June, five activists dislodged a funeral pole at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris, demanding its return to Africa. The activists face trial in September. Such demands have echoes that are both global and longstanding. Greece, for example, has fought for two centuries to reclaim the ancient Elgin marbles from Britain. ‘Complex debates’ Nigeria “was saddened” by the Christie’s sale, the lawyer representing the country’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the closing press conference at the G5 Sahel summit on June 30, 2020, in Nouakchott, Mauritania.Okeke-Agulu contends that Nigeria’s government needs to do more to halt …

The body of “Glee” star Naya Rivera was found Monday at a Southern California lake, authorities said.  Ventura County Sheriff’s officials confirmed at an afternoon news conference that the body that search crews found floating in the northeast corner of Lake Piru earlier in the day was the 33-year-old Rivera.  The discovery came five days after the 33-year-old Rivera disappeared on Lake Piru, where her son was found July 8 asleep and alone on a rented pontoon boat, authorities said.  Authorities said the following day that they believed Rivera had drowned, and they had shifted to working to find her body rather than find her alive.  The body was flown 40 miles (64 kilometres) to the coroner’s office in Ventura, where an autopsy would be conducted, Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Buschow said. Rivera’s family has been notified of the discovery.  The lake an hour’s drive from Los Angeles was searched by dozens of divers working in waters with little visibility, with help from sonar and robotic devices combing the bottom and helicopters and drones searching above.  “I can’t imagine what it’s like for her parents, her family,” Buschow said. “It takes an emotional toll on the search teams too.”  Rivera played …

The son of Lisa Marie Presley has died. He was 27.  Presley’s representative Roger Widynowski said in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press that she was “heartbroken” after learning about the death of her son Benjamin Keough. He is the grandson of the late Elvis Presley.  TMZ reports that Keough died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday in Calabasas, California.  “She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley,” Widynowski said in the statement. “She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.” Presley had Keough and actress Riley Keough, 31, with her former husband Danny Keough. She also had twins from another marriage.  Nancy Sinatra tweeted her condolences to Presley, writing, “I have known you since before your mama gave birth to you, never dreaming you would have pain like this in your life. I’m so very sorry.”  …

Kelly Preston, who played dramatic and comic foil to actors ranging from Tom Cruise in “Jerry Maguire” to Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Twins,” died Sunday, husband John Travolta said. She was 57. Travolta said in an Instagram post that his wife of 28 years died after a two-year battle with breast cancer.  “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer,” Travolta said. “She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many.” The couple had three children together. “Shocked by this sad news,” Maria Shriver said on Twitter. “Kelly was such a bright loving soul, a talented actress, and a loving mom and wife. My heart breaks for her family who have already known such sadness and grief.” Preston had a lengthy acting career in movies and television, starring opposite Kevin Costner in the 1999 film “For the Love of the Game.” In 2003, she starred in “What a Girl Wants” and as the mom in the live-action adaptation of “The Cat in the Hat.” The following year she appeared in the music video for Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” Russell Crowe tweeted that he met …

Bollywood star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her eight-year-old daughter tested positive for the coronavirus, state officials confirmed Sunday. The news follows an announcement Saturday that her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and her husband Abhishek tested positive and were admitted to the hospital. Though Amitabh Bachchan, 77, was admitted to the hospital, he is reportedly stable with only mild symptoms, Rajesh Tope, minister of public health for the state of Maharashtra, said in a tweet Sunday. महानायक अमिताभ बच्चन व अभिषेक बच्चन यांची कोरोना टेस्ट पॉझिटिव्ह आल्याने ते मुंबई येथील नानावटी हॉस्पिटलमध्ये ऍडमिट आहेत. FILE – Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan waving to fans in Mumbai, India, Dec. 13, 2018.Legendary actor Bachchan, who has starred in over 200 of Indian films since the early 1970s, tweeted on Saturday that he had tested positive for the virus.  “Family and staff undergone tests , results awaited … All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested !” he wrote. T 3590 -I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited ..All that have been in close proximity to me in …

“The Most Magical Place on Earth” is reopening after nearly four months with new rules in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are reopening Saturday, while Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will follow four days later.The reopening comes as a huge surge of Floridians have tested positive for the new coronavirus in recent weeks. Many cities and counties around the state have recently reinstated restrictions that had been lifted in May, when cases seemed to drop.Disney Plans to Reopen Florida Parks July 11 Walt Disney World says parks will enforce social distancing, require masksAll of Disney’s Orlando parks closed in mid-March in an effort to stop the virus’s spread.Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando closed around the same time but reopened several weeks ago after instituting similar rules to protect employees and customers from the virus.Disney’s new rules include mandatory masks and social distancing. Visitors will need reservations to enter a park, and they won’t be allowed to hop between parks. Both visitors and employees will receive temperature checks when they enter. Fireworks shows and parades have been suspended to prevent drawing too many people together.Disney has been opening its parks back …

Johnny Depp described the breakdown of his marriage to Amber Heard on Friday in a London court, saying the last straw came when feces were found in the couple’s bed after a party.Depp was wrapping up his evidence in his libel case against a British tabloid newspaper that accused him of physically abusing Heard. The Hollywood star is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that called him a “wife-beater.”In three and a half days in the witness box at the High Court, Depp has described a volatile relationship that descended into screaming matches which sometimes turned physical. But he has strongly denied hitting Heard and accused her of compiling a dossier of fake claims against him as an “insurance policy.”Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy “The Rum Diary” and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard, a model and actress, filed for divorce the following year and obtained a restraining order against Depp on the grounds of domestic abuse. The divorce was finalized in 2017.Depp said one of the triggering incidents for the couple’s separation came when a …

The Rolling Stones will release a new version of their 1973 album “Goats Head Soup” featuring three unheard tracks, including one featuring Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. The band announced on Thursday that the release on Sept. 4 will include a four-disc CD and vinyl box set editions that includes 10 bonus tracks, including outtakes and alternative versions.  Page appears on a song called “Scarlet,” and the Stones also released a video for one of the unheard songs, called “Criss Cross.” “Goats Head Soup” features one of the band’s well-known acoustic ballads, “Angie.”    …

Johnny Depp denied assaulting ex-wife Amber Heard on a private Caribbean island and during a furious rampage in Australia in a third day of evidence Thursday in the actor’s libel suit against a U.K. tabloid newspaper that called him a “wife-beater.” Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that said he’d physically abused Heard. He strongly denies the allegation. Under cross-examination by The Sun’s lawyer, Sasha Wass, Depp depicted a volatile relationship with Heard, during a period when he was trying to kick drugs and alcohol, and sometimes lapsing. He said he came to feel he was in a “constant tailspin” but denied being violent. Depp rejected Heard’s claim that he subjected her to a “three-day ordeal of assaults” in March 2015 in Australia, where Depp was filming the fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. “I vehemently deny it and will go as far as to say it’s pedestrian fiction,” he said. He said his relationship with Heard was a “constant barrage of insults and demeaning footnotes and accusations of things that never happened.” Depp and Wass sparred over disputed details of the Australia episode, …

Authorities say former “Glee” star Naya Rivera is missing and being searched for at a Southern California lake.  The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department late Wednesday confirmed that Rivera, 33, is the person being searched for in the waters of Lake Piru, which is approximately 56 miles (90 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. KNBC reported late Wednesday that Rivera rented a pontoon boat at the Lake Piru reservoir Wednesday and that her young son was found on the boat wearing a life vest. Rivera’s identification was found on the boat. Sheriff’s officials launched a boat and helicopter search Wednesday afternoon, but that had been suspended by nighttime. The search will continue early Thursday. “We’re going on the belief that she did go in the water and we have not been able to locate her. So this may well be a case of drowning,” Captain Eric Buschow said during a news conference. Rivera’s 4-year-old son is from a marriage with actor Ryan Dorsey. The couple finalized their divorce in June 2018 after nearly four years of marriage.   She called her young son “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him” in her 2016 memoir “Sorry Not …

Rapper Kanye West signaled he no longer supported U.S. President Donald Trump and said he would enter the presidential race to win it, according to an interview published on Wednesday.West, previously a vocal supporter of Trump, announced on Saturday that he would run for president in 2020. West and his reality TV star wife Kim Kardashian West have visited Trump in the White House.”I am taking the red hat off, with this interview,” West told Forbes magazine, referring to Trump’s trademark red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap. “Like anything I’ve ever done in my life, I’m doing (this) to win.”Kanye West? The Girl Scouts? Hedge funds? All Got PPP LoansThe government’s small business lending program has benefited millions of companies, with the goal of minimizing the number of layoffs Americans have suffered in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the recipients include many you probably wouldn’t have expectedHe said he would run under a new banner – the Birthday Party.There was no record of West filing any official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. The deadline to add independent candidates to the ballot has not yet passed in many states.West denied that his aim was to split the …

Legendary rock musician and former drummer of the Beatles Ringo Starr turned 80 Tuesday and celebrated with an online concert. Starr made an appearance Tuesday — wearing a mask with peace signs on it and practicing social distancing — along with his wife, Barbara Bach, at the “Peace and Love” statue to promote his online birthday concert, the proceeds from which, among other causes, went to support the Black Lives Matter movement. The iconic drummer told reporters “peace and love around the world” was his birthday wish and he believes supporting the Black Lives Matter movement is part of that. He said, “You can’t say ‘peace and love’ with someone’s knee on your throat,” referring to the death of George Floyd while in custody of the Minneapolis police department. Starr looked fit and healthy as he spoke with reporters and was, asked if he had a secret. He said, “God blessed me with these good looks. I don’t know, I work out, I eat right, I just do the best I can for the body and the mind.” His online concert, “Ringo’s Big Birthday Show” was streamed live on YouTube and other online channels, and featured, among other acts, his former Beatle bandmate Paul McCartney, Joe …