Entertainment

Ten projects chosen for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ UK festival of creativity

Unboxed: Creativity in the UK – formerly known as Festival 2022 and derided by some as a “festival of Brexit” – draws on arts, science, engineering, technology and maths in a government-backed £120m celebration of ingenuity.

An epic scale model of the solar system and an “almost indescribable” artwork that is seen with closed eyes are included in a highly ambitious programme of live and digital events in UK towns and cities next year.

Ten projects selected from nearly 300 submitted ideas form a “once-in-a-lifetime” extravaganza, according to Martin Green, Unboxed’s chief creative officer, who was the head of ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics.

He said it was the UK’s “biggest and most ambitious public creative programme to date. Unboxed represents an unprecedented and timely opportunity for people to come together across the UK and beyond and take part in awe-inspiring projects that speak to who we are and explore the ideas that will define our futures.”

The festival was commissioned in 2018 under Theresa May’s premiership. It has been endorsed and funded by Boris Johnson’s government and the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Free events will take place “from the Outer Hebrides to Dover, and from Omagh to Swansea, right across the UK” between March and October next year, said Green. Thousands of schoolchildren will take part in competitions and educational programmes, and hundreds of jobs and “opportunities for emerging talent” will be created.

“The future of creativity is about the combination of science, tech, engineering, arts and maths. Frankly, a lot of kids have been doing it already, it’s only the grownups that put walls around it,” Green added.

Unboxed will start with a journey through 13.8bn years of history, from the big bang to the present day. About Us, which begins in Paisley on 1 March before moving on to other towns and cities, incorporates live performance, multimedia installations, animation, poetry and music.

Another project, Our Place in Space, is a scale model of the solar system that combines 10km sculpture trails in Northern Ireland and Cambridge with an interactive augmented reality app.

Dandelion reimagines the traditional harvest festival for the 21st century, with miniature vertical farms in light cubes placed in urban and rural locations across Scotland. PoliNations is a pop-up forest of real and fabricated trees in the centre of Birmingham celebrating the multicultural origins of the UK’s people and plants.

Dreamachine is an immersive environment of light and sound creating vibrant imagery and kaleidoscopic patterns behind closed eyes. “People that have experienced the prototype have said how extraordinary and almost indescribable it is,” Green said.

Twenty thousand people will help create Green Space Dark Skies, a chain of lights across national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. See Monster is a decommissioned North Sea offshore platform transformed into a public art installation in Weston-super-Mare that celebrates British weather and the repurposing of redundant structures.

Galwad, meaning “call” in Welsh, combines television drama, live performance and an immersive app to tell a story set 30 years in the future. Augmented reality and 3D technology will be used to bring to life stories of the past and present in StoryTrails.

Tour de Moon is a “cosmic night-time adventure … an after-party of immersive experiences, new technologies and science innovation”, according to its director, Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stepanian.

Green said Johnson had been briefed on the designs. “The project is supported and funded by all four governments of the UK, not an easy feat these days. But once they saw what we were trying to do, they absolutely all bought into it.”

Dame Vikki Heywood, the chair of the Unboxed board, said: “The programme will support economic recovery in the UK by reanimating towns and cities and expanding our connectivity through new online communities. As the programme unfolds, it will both entertain us and inspire us to imagine what the future might hold.”

Entertainment

I don’t know Bobrisky from Adam, never spoken to him – Falana reacts to audio clip released by VDM

Oil Theft: Falana Calls For Irabor’s Sack Over Destruction Of Vessel

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has denied having anything to do with popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye known as Bobrisky and his alleged assistance to get him a presidential pardon while he served his term in Kirikiri prison.

Recall that social activist, Very Dark Man, a few days ago, released a purported audio conversation between Bobrisky and a man where the crossdresser claimed that singer, Falz reached out to him saying his father, Femi Falana, could help him secure a presidential pardon with 10 million naira, so his name would be cleared from criminal records.

Both father and son through their lawyers, demanded an immediate retraction of the said publication as well as an apology from VeryDarkMan to be published on all his platforms within 24 hours. However, VDM argued that he didn’t defame the Falanas but only brought the audio recording to light because he wanted relevant agencies to investigate statement allegedly made by Bobrisky.

However in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, October 3, Falana denied ever meeting Bobrisky or speaking to him. He also mentioned that a civil proceeding will be initiated if a retraction and an apology suitable to him and his son is not received.

“Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I do not know him from Adam. He was alleged to have spoken to my son Folarin (Falz). Yes, my son said this guy was appealing to people for assistance and called my son I think on May 4 this year – please can you give me N3 million to be placed in a special part of the prison, we call it the VIP section.

My son asked him, are you calling me under the authorization of the superintendent of prisons? He said no – please don’t call me again, I am unable to assist you to bribe the prison authorities and be very careful since you are already in prison for an offence.

Please if you are you are going to call me next time, you either do through the superintendent or you write a letter endorsed by the prison authorities and that was the last. Somebody now start releasing tapes somewhere and went out to lampoon and rather defame me by saying the guy has spoken to me.”

Falana says his family is going to embark on civil proceedings with a view to restoring his and his son, Falz’s name.

“In this case, we are not going to file a criminal complain. What we are going to do is to embark on a civil proceedings with a view to restoring our integrity, my own name and that of my son so that nobody will simply rush to the social media to defame any Nigerian.

“We want to make an example in this case . We have asked for a retraction and an apology rendered to us and that is not too much and if we don’t have a retraction, an apology rendered to us, accepted by us, we are certainly going initiate civil proceedings in the court”.

Entertainment

Queen Lateefah movie hits 57.7 million in opening weekend

Nollywood actress Wumi Toriola has expressed gratitude to her millions of fans following the impressive success of her debut cinema film, Queen Lateefah.

The movie, which premiered last weekend, grossed an astounding 57.7 million Naira in its opening weekend.

In an Instagram post, Toriola celebrated the achievement, noting that Queen Lateefah secured the highest Nollywood opening for a non-holiday weekend and also set a record as the biggest Nollywood opening weekend by an independent distributor.

Grateful beyond words,” she wrote. “Queen Lateefah just hit 57.7 million on its opening weekend! Thank you all for the love and support. Don’t miss out on this wonderful journey, grab your tickets now and join the adventure!”

The film’s success stirred excitement among Toriola’s colleagues, with many taking to her comment section to celebrate the achievement.

Actor Stan Nze commented, “Congratulations,” while Jamiu Azeez echoed the sentiment with “Yas.”

Nollywood stars like Mercy Aigbe, Joke Jigan, Kemi Korede, Mo Bimpe, and others also sent their best wishes, applauding her accomplishment

Entertainment

Actor, Yomi Fabiyi flees Nigeria after alleging threat to life over Mohbad’s case

Popular Nollywood actor, Yomi Fabiyi has jetted out of Nigeria after escaping an alleged assassination attempt.

The actor made this known after his absence at the late singer Mohbad’s Coroner court and failure to lead a planned protest to the Lagos State Assembly on Monday September 30 2024.

Fabiyi had scheduled a protest for September 30, coinciding with the resumption of the coroner investigating Mohbad’s death.

However, revealing reasons for his absence, the actor said that his life was under threat, as he just escaped assassination attempt two days ago.

In a now controversial video on his Instagram page, Fabiyi who is currently hiding, disclosed an alleged plot to waste his life over Mohbad’s case.

“I escaped assassination two days ago and they still planned to kill me tonight. If they had succeeded, I would have been buried tomorrow.

“They will now waste me all because I’m fighting for Justice. I didn’t collect money from anybody. I am just doing my own for God. I have to run for my life. I just left Nigeria unplanned and as it is now I don’t even know my destination,” he claimed.