Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim (born 1989) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

film producer,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, who creates works which tell the stories of Nigeria's marginalised LGBTQ communities. In 2020, the BBC included her in its list of the 100 Women of the Year.

Biography

Ikpe-Etim was born in 1989. She is co-founder of the production company Hashtag Media House, and since 2011, she has worked to give voice to the Nigeria's minority communities, especially the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

community there. The rights of the LGBT community in Africa are severely persecuted, and Nigeria and its film industry are no exception: in

Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...

homosexual characters are ridiculed and portrayed as predators, moved by economic interests or under the influence of cults and spells and often end up being punished for their actions or saved by the church. Those films that feature the LGBTQ community in Nigeria, usually feature homosexual men. In 2020, Ikpe-Etim, along with film producer

Pamela Adie Pamela Adie (, born Biwom Pamela Adie; 15 April 1984) is a Nigerian LGBT rights activist, public speaker, screenwriter and filmmaker. Pamela is hailed as a prominent public speaker advocating for LGBTQ community and has often raised her voice on ...

came to prominence in Nigeria due to their production of the film '' Ìfé.'' The film was Ikpe-Etim's directorial debut and tells a love story between two women. ''Ìfé'' is not the first lesbian-themed film to be produced in Nigeria, but it is the first to show such a relationship normally, without prejudice or stereotypes. Indeed the producer, director and actors in the lead roles are all members of Nigeria's LGBT community. Ikpe-Etim is

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

. However, the production had to face the National Board of Film and Video Censors, which went so far as to threaten its creators with prison sentences for "encouraging homosexuality" in a country where same-sex marriage was banned by law since 2014. In fact, to avoid censorship, the film was released abroad in October 2020, at the Toronto LGBT Film Festival. It was released ultimately on the streaming platform ehtvnetwork.com. It was screened at the

Leeds International Film Festival The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is an annual film festival hosted in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest film festival in England outside of London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November in various venues throughou ...

in November 2020.

Awards

In 2020, Ikpe-Etim was listed as one of the BBC's 100 Women for 2020, recognising her contributions to women's rights in Nigeria.

References

External links

* Cindy Amadi and Uyai Ikpe-Eti
talk about their film Ife
1989 births Living people Nigerian film directors Queer feminists Nigerian women film directors LGBTQ feminists LGBTQ film directors Nigerian screenwriters Nigerian film producers Nigerian women film producers Nigerian media personalities {{Nigeria-screenwriter-stub