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South Africa's Somali refugee child stars fly to the Oscars

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asadAfter narrowly winning a race against time to get extended refugee status, passports and visas, brothers Harun and Ali Mohammed are flying from Cape Town to Hollywood today for Sunday’s Academy Awards, where their film Asad will compete in the Best Short Film category. 

The Somali refugee child stars will be accompanied by their father, Mahdi Hassan Mohamed, and will meet up in Los Angeles with Rafiq Samsodien,Asad’s South African producer, who’s had sleepless nights making the trip happen.

Speaking at Tuesday’s double screening of the Western Cape’s two Oscar-nominated films, Asad and the Rodriguez documentary Searching for Sugarman, Rafiq said, “I haven’t slept in 24 hours. I’ve been trying to get these guys extended refugee status documents, passports, and visas, which is not an easy task. Arranging this trip has been the biggest production of my life: what we’ve managed to achieve in three weeks would normally take four years, so I need to thank Minister Naledi Pandor, The Department of Home Affairs and the American embassy for coming through for us.” Written and directed by acclaimed American commercials director Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man, Asad is set in a war-torn fishing village in Somalia and follows a 12-year-old boy who must decide between falling into the pirate life and rising above it to become an honest fisherman.   Asad has scooped awards from 13 festivals around the world and has just received a glowing endorsement for Nobel Prize winner and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Tutu says, “South Africa is a relatively young democracy only recently emerged from the shackles of tyranny and prejudice. We have much to learn and we also have much to teach. Asad is at once a painful reminder of the xenophobia that shamefully still exists in South Africa and a heartwarming tribute to our special ability as members of the human family to heal ourselves.” The short film was sparked in part by a United Nations short documentary, No Autographs, which brought Buckley and his producer Mino Jarjoura to refugee camps in Kenya and Sudan in the summer of 2010. Filming in Somalia would have been too dangerous, so the short was brought to Rafiq and The Asylum (now Egg Films Service) to shoot in Paternoster in the Western Cape. Spoken in Somali with English subtitles, Asad stars an all-refugee cast, headed by Harun (14) and Ali (12). The brothers reside just outside Cape Town with their parents and 13 brothers and sisters. Before filming started, neither Harun nor Ali spoke English, so Buckley and Jarjoura had to deploy a translator. The boys had also never attended school, so they were illiterate and had to memorize their lines without a script or written point of reference. “These two kids were diamonds in the rough,” Rafiq says. “But if you’ve seen the performances, they shine much brighter than any diamond I have ever seen in my entire life.” Tutu agrees. “The young Somali actors Harun and Ali Mohamed are the stars of a compelling show. They are also real life stars in an inspirational South African story about hope and reconciliation. So are the filmmakers – South African Rafiq Samsodien and the US partners Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura. Before Asad the children had never attended school; now, thanks to the director, they have received catch-up private tuition and enrolled in a home school system. They are being equipped to contribute to our shared South African future. Their film has been nominated to receive an Oscar. They deserve two Oscars: one for the creative endeavor and the other for contributing to our collective understanding of our dependence on one another.” All prize money Asad receives from festivals goes towards the boys’ school expenses. Since March 2012, the boys have progressed from illiteracy to excelling in the fourth grade, in English.

Rafiq thanked everyone who made the children’s trip to the Oscars possible, including Melanie Mahona at The Provincial Government of The Western Cape, Nils Flaatten at Wesgro, The City of Cape Town, Myatt International, Woolworths, Dr. Anwar Nagiah, Marcel Golding, Tahir Salie, Munier Parker and Oryx Media, and The National Film and Video Foundation, who are sponsoring the flights and accommodation, among other costs.

The Academy Awards take place on 24 February 2012 at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ]]>

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Gospel singer KODA passes on, after reportedly battling a kidney disease

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Gospel singer, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto popularly known as KODA is dead.

He died on Sunday after reportedly battling a kidney disease.

Tributes, especially from gospel musicians started flying on social media on Sunday when they heard about KODA’s passing.

Some musicians expressed shock when they heard about the death of the gospel stalwart.

Among those who expressed their shock were, Empress Gifty, who posted on Facebook: “I hope it’s not true, KODA,” with crying emojis.

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Speaking to Graphic Showbiz on Sunday afternoon, Gospel musician Nii Okai, a very close friend of KODA said, “I wish I could tell you another thing but that’s the truth. KODA is dead”.

He said it was quite shocking to him considering that KODA was doing very fine after going through treatment.

KODA, celebrated for his uplifting melodies and soulful compositions, was not just a singer but a producer who left an indelible mark on the Ghanaian music scene.

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WATCH: Irene Logan sings ‘At Last’ as she dances with her husband at their wedding reception

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Irene Logan sings 'At Last' as she dances with her husband at their wedding reception

Ghanaian singer, songwriter, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Irene Logan has tied the knot with her sweetheart, Prince! (more…)

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Lagos police arrest gay gang of criminals, who raped their male victims

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The police in Lagos have recorded a breakthrough by arresting eight members of a vicious gang of criminals that specialize in subjecting their victims to several hours of anal sex after dispossessing them of their properties and cash.

The arrest, said to be one of the biggest successes of detectives recently, under the watchful eyes of Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade so far, was made in the highbrow areas of Lekki, Ajah and Ikoyi areas of the state and efforts are in top gear to round up fleeing members of the dreaded gang made up of young men between the ages of 23 and 40.

Giving details of the operational strategies of the gang, police sources said the young men usually perpetrate their evil acts by renting living apartments in the highbrow areas of the city after which they embark on search for their victims.

It was learned that they normally place notices in strategic areas of the city, advertising job vacancies and acting as estate agents.

Sources said desperate job and accommodation seekers who respond to their adverts would be taken to their apartments usually situated in one of the booming estates where they are subjected to all kinds of torture with a view to forcing them release their account details after which they would be forced into several hours of anal sex by members of the gang.

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According to sources, their operational method is to roam around with exotic cars including high flying SUV’s. They place fake advertisements in strategic areas of Lekki, Ajah, Banana Island and even Ikoyi after which they also scout around, looking for fine and healthy-looking men.

As soon as they succeed in getting a victim, they drive the person to their apartment where they torture him for hours. While torturing their victim, they would extract all information about him including his financial status.

“As soon as they are in possession of those personal facts, they swing into action by proceeding to his house or banks to empty his money and other valuables. The second round of their operation is to subject their victim to hours of anal sex which they take turns to have their fill. They usually record their exploits on video and later relax to view it while enjoying their loot.”

It was gathered that their criminal exploits were blown open after they succeeded in cornering and maltreating a relation of a mobile police officer. The enraged officer was said to have gone to one of the police stations at Lekki to lodge the report.

Based on this development, the Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade gave marching orders to his special squad to round up the criminals without delay.

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The Special Squad, it was learned, succeeded in penetrating the gang and rounded up seven of their members including their oldest member said to be a lawyer.

Crime Guard learned that during interrogations, members of the gang who were looking unruffled stated boldly that their victims were healthy looking young and old men that will satisfy their sexual urge through the anus.

“They reportedly shocked detectives when they confessed that they had been operating for over three years and that they choose highbrow areas where they could easily track well nourished and endowed men.

Police sources said: “They were boasting to us about how many healthy looking men they have abused through the anus. They said they reject men that are not looking health, stating emphatically that they have no business with women. After their arrest, we confined them in separate cells so that they would not descend on our male suspects inside the cell.

“However, few days later, one of them raised alarm that the oldest member of the gang who claimed to be a lawyer was having same affair with a member of the gang. When we accosted him, he said the relationship had been going on since they have been operating as a gang.

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“Our greatest problem now is that some members of the devilish gang have escaped and we strongly suspect that they must be carrying on with their devilish criminal acts wherever they are.

“We are spreading our dragnets and we are sure that very soon, we will round all of them up. I must state that if not for the swiftness with which our Commissioner directed the operation, many men in Lagos state would have been endangered species by now.”

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Joyce Dzidzor to release Tatata featuring Freddy Meiway

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Joyce Dzidzor to release Tatata featuring Freddy Meiway

Former Aids Ambassador and actress Joyce Dzidzor is gearing up for the release of her latest single Tatata featuring Ivorian Legendary musician Freddy Meiway.

Scheduled for release on April 10 the song recorded by King Dee, mixed by Donguy and mastered by Franz talks about broken heart and how to come out of it. Speaking in an interview with Joyce she said Freddy will not just jump on any song if he is not okay with it “How many musicians have been able to feature him on a song. It was not easy getting him on the song but finally we did and I am so grateful for that.

Asked why she went in for Meiway she said she has so much respect for him and even got a tattoo of him at her back said that her latest tattoo at her back.

“Meiway songs helped me her come out from depression. His music was a therapy for me when I was going through severe depression in 2019 in Hamburg and I tattoo him at my back to celebrate his achievements as an artiste for the past 35 years” she said Asked about her next project and collaboration with other Ghanaian musicians Joyce said that will only depend if this project goes well.

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“ I have a lot of plans for my music career but that will depend on how my latest single goes. If it goes well and accepted by Ghanaians it will give me the energy to continue my music career and feature other musicians” she said. Joyce has been doing music for more 15 years now and has backed musicians like Highlife musician Gyedu- Blay Ambolley and singer Sherifa Gunu.

She was also a member of Dela Hayes Women of Colour band. She pleaded with musicians in Ghana to acknowledge backup singers for their contributions they play. “It is only few musicians who come out to acknowledge who backed them in a studio but I have backed a lot of musicians in the past and they know it. It is just right that they acknowledge our contribution we play so that we can do fill happy for a good work done. When that is done, other musicians who probably liked what we did on other songs can employ us on their projects. That has been my worry for sometime and I wish it could be addressed” she said

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Henry Fitz and 2 others being sued over Serwaa Amihere video

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Serwaa Amihere has filed a suit at the Dansoman circuit court against Henry Amponsah popularly known as Henry Fitz, Edem Saviour Ketti and Candylove Kwaykewaa Ababio. (more…)

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‘Jenifa’s Diary’ actress Aderounmu Adejumoke is dead

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Nigerian actress, Adejumoke Oreoluwa Aderounmu, popularly known for her role as ‘Esther’ in popular TV series Jenifa’s Diary, is dead. (more…)

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