National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has commended young Nigerian filmmaker, Korede Azeez, for emerging one of the six winners of Netflix and UNESCO’s Emerging Filmmaker Contest for Sub-Saharan Africa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Azeez and five other youngsters from Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, South Africa, and Uganda had made the final cut and eventually emerged as winners of the “African Folktales, Re-imagined” competition.

Executive Director of NFVCB, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, gave the commendation in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

The contest, which had participants drawn from 13 African countries, was aimed at discovering talented new voices in storytelling and giving emerging filmmakers in Sub-Saharan Africa visibility on a global scale.

According to Netflix, each of the six winners will receive a personal gift of US$25,000, plus a production budget of US$75,000 to create a short film, based on the concepts they presented during the competition.

“We are even more excited to inform you that an emerging Nigerian filmmaker, Korede Azeez, has made the final cut and emerged as one of our final six winners.

“Netflix is delighted that Nigeria found the chance to shine throughout this contest and that a new Nigerian voice will join the cohort of African storytellers on Netflix,” it had said.

Reacting to the feat, the NFVCB helmsman commended the young Nigerian talent for his steadfastness throughout the competition period, saying that this had made him stand tall in the end.

“This competition highlights the richness and diversity of Africa’s local stories which often goes unnoticed due to lack of access to the right resources and visibility.

“Netflix, UNESCO, and NFVCB are committed to amplifying the voice of African storytellers and enabling them to go on to find sustainable employment, professional development, and access to opportunities in the creative industry.

“We celebrate this young Nigerian filmmaker for rising to the occasion and shining, alongside other African storytellers,” Thomas said.

He said that Netflix would support the winners through the development process by pairing them with a local production company to create their film and availing them of additional guidance from a Netflix-appointed supervising producer.

Thomas added that Netflix would also introduce them to industry mentors from across the African continent.