Hero wins best diaspora feature at African film awards

LOCAL film Hero – Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Mr Ulric Cross has won an award at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).

A post from the film's Facebook page reported on Sunday it was announced from Nigeria that Hero won Best Diaspora Narrative Feature.

"Congratulations to Frances-Anne Solomon Nickolai Salcedo and all the cast and crew of HERO!" the post stated.

Hero also included in the post the hashtags #PanAfrica and #CaribbeanAfricanFilmsMatter. A number of Facebook users commented on the post and extended their personal congratulations.

"Absolutely deserved. It's a masterpiece," one person wrote.

"Well deserved. Legendary," another person wrote.

The TT Film Festival (TTFF) reposted the post and noted that Hero was the winner of the People's Choice Narrative Feature at TTFF 2018.

The biopic was directed by award-winning filmmaker Frances Anne-Solomon who was born to Trinidadian parents in England and is based in Canada. Hero stars Nickolai Salcedo (Moko Jumbie, Moving Parts) as the titular Cross (May 1, 1917 – October 4, 2013), the late Royal Air Force hero, jurist and diplomat.

The film, which blends archival footage with dramatic re-enactment, follows Cross from his childhood to his time in World War II to his work as a diplomat on the African continent and contribution to Pan-Africanism as he served as an advisor to President Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana and President Julius Nyerere in Tanzania.

Hero also stars British actor Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey Butler from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) as Trinidadian historian CLR James and Fraser James as Pan African icon George Padmore.

The film, which is currently touring in the UK, was shot both in Trinidad and in Africa, and included actors both from the continent and of African heritage.

The AMAA is a subsidiary of the Africa Film Academy which is geared towards research, training and propagating filmmaking in Africa. AMAA was established in 2005 aimed at facilitating the development and relevance of African film and cinema by providing a reward and recognition platform for filmmakers on the continent.

In May this year the film had its US premiere when it opened the 26th New York African Film Festival.

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