R.I.P Amake Igwe, See her biography

Amaka Igwe is a Nigerian writer, director and producer and owner of Amaka Igwe Studios. She is a visionary and pioneer of modern Nigerian TV and movie production. She has stamped her authority, thanks to numerous roles she had played in the Nigerian home video industry, known as “Nollywood”. Some of her popular productions include Rattle Snake, Violated, Checkmate and Fuji’s House of Commotion. She also organises a TV market annually: Best of the Best TV (BOB TV), the regular fora she holds for filmmakers to share ideas and critically assess their productions. Amaka Igwe graduated from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife with a B.Sc. in Education/Religion. Sometime in the 1980s, after watching some episodes of the Lola Fani Kayode production Mirror in the Sun, she conceived the idea for a script about an all-conquering heroine like the legendary Queen Amina in a stage format.
That idea blossomed to become Checkmate, a soap dwelling on issues such as male chauvinism, polygamy, secret cultism and the Osu caste system. It is regarded by most as the best soap opera of the 90′s era and still evokes feelings of nostalgia among viewers.

She was also a former lecturer at the Anambra State University of Technology and is the creative head of Amaka Igwe Studios. In addition to the central role she plays as filmmaker, Igwe is an important stakeholder in the Nigerian film industry. In 2002, She started BOBTV (Best of the Best TV), a film and television program forum held annually in Abuja, Nigeria. It is a venue for meetings, conferences and workshops related to film/video production, marketing and distribution. She is also a member of the international Board of Trustees for AMAA (African Movie Academy Awards) and part of its jury. Amaka Igwe is a strong advocate of the future of Nigerian film, stressing on bridging the generation gap between Nigerian filmmakers of the past, those of the present and young filmmakers on the come-up. She conducts an annual university challenge, where students from Nigerian universities compete for the Raymond Dokpesi prize in film.

Unfortunnately we lost the Nollywoond icon *Crying*