Michelle Bello (born Michelle Aisha Bello; 30 September 1982) is a
British Nigerian
British Nigerians are British people of Nigerian descent or Nigerians of British descent.
This article is about residents and citizens of Nigerian descent living in Britain. Many Nigerians and their British-born descendants in Britain live in So ...
film director and film producer. She is also CEO of a Nigerian-based entertainment and publishing company, Blu Star Entertainment Limited. Bello was born in London, England.
Early life
The younger of two children, Bello was born in September 1982 to Abdullahi Dominic and Sylviane Bello. Bello is of
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
, French, African-American and
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
lese descent. She spent her early years in Lagos, Nigeria, attending nursery and primary school and at the age of eight, left for England where she obtained both her
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
and
A-level certificate. It was while growing up in England that she discovered her passion for film making and never looked back.
Career
Bello moved to the United States in 2001 to study communications (specialising in Visual Media) at the
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in Washington D.C. While there, she made several short films and during a study-abroad programme in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, Bello made her first 16mm short film entitled Sheltered.
After graduating from the American University in 2005, she moved back to Nigeria to pursue her dreams of becoming a film producer/director. In 2007, Bello worked with prominent TV producer and presenter Mo Abudu as an Associate Producer on her hit MNet TV show Moments with Mo. Soon after, she produced the award-winning music video Greenland for well-known artist and photographer T.Y. Bello.
Michelle produced and directed her first feature film called Small Boy in late 2007. The movie became an instant success in the US as out of 400 films, it was nominated for two awards at the
American Black Film Festival
The American Black Film Festival (originally called the Acalpulco Black Film Festival) is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on black film—works by Black members of the film industry. It is held to recognize achievements of film ...
in Los Angeles the following year. The nominations were the Heineken Red Star Award for 'Innovation in Film' and the Target Filmmaker Award for 'Most Inspirational Film'. On the home front, Small Boy went on to win two
African Movie Academy Award
The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...
for 'Best Art Direction' and 'Best Young Child Actor' in April 2009. The movie premiere took place in Lagos, Nigeria in May 2010. with Nollywood stars and industry practitioners in attendance.
Thereafter, Bello returned to the United States and earned a master's degree in Communications, specialising in Film Directing, at
Regent University in Virginia. She took the opportunity to develop her craft and made several short films. While at Regent University, Bello was selected to do an internship with the world-renowned ICM Talent Agency at the 2011
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. She also attended the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
that year as part of a class programme organised by the university and met several prominent film makers during her stay.
After her graduation in December 2011, Bello returned home to join the thriving industry known as
Nollywood
Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...
. Her knowledge, combined with her experiences in the industry both locally and internationally, made Bello ably equipped to produce and direct her second feature film
Flower Girl, which was released in February 2013 to rave reviews. The movie hit number one in cinemas across Nigeria and was subsequently released in Ghana and had the same response. Several months later, Flower Girl was premiered in the US at the
Hollywood Black Film Festival
The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF), dubbed the "Black Sundance," is an annual six-day film festival held in Los Angeles, California dedicated to enhancing the careers of new and established black filmmaking professionals by bringing their w ...
in Los Angeles in October 2013. On 4 October, it crossed over to the UK market opening in three of their biggest cinema chains including the Odeon, Vue and Cineworld cinemas. Michelle is the first female Nigerian director to have a UK theatrical release.
Flower Girl subsequently won ‘Best African Film’ in the UK at the Black International Film Festival early November 2013. The movie crossed the Atlantic once again to be screened at the Toronto Black Film Festival in February 2014. Aberdeen, Scotland, was the next stop for the film and was released in the cinema in February. It went on to win the Screen Nation Film & Television 2014 Award in the UK for ‘Favourite New Nollywood Film’ that same month. The film also received nominations for ‘Best Lighting’ at the African Movie Academy Awards 2013, and ‘Best Film’ at the Africa International Film Festival 2013.
Michelle was awarded the prestigious and much coveted Trailblazer Award at the recent Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards 2014, which took place in Lagos, Nigeria. The judges who had voted stated that the award was being given to her “for her commitment and demonstrated talent, her versatility and potential for cutting-edge approaches to African cinema”. This award came with a brand new Hyundai sports car. Flower Girl itself was nominated for four AMVCA awards including Best Film and Best Supporting Actor and went on to win Best Writer in a Comedy and Best Supporting Actress Awards. Michelle is currently developing her third feature film.
[Flower Girl Movie](_blank)
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Other work
Under the Blu Star Entertainment Limited umbrella, Bello published The Film Directory, a publication listing numerous Nigerian filmmakers and companies in the industry. The first edition was launched in September 2007 at the Abuja Film Festival and was supported by government agencies including th
Nigerian Film Corporation
an
National Film and Video Censors Board
Personal life
As a young child at school in England, Bello's athletic abilities got her in the school netball, swimming and rounders teams. In addition to this, she also made time for the more musical side of her nature and learned to play the saxophone and piano.
Bello's Nigerian father, Air Vice Marshal Abdullahi Bello (rtd.), was born in Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State, and rose through the ranks to become the youngest Chief of the Air Staff in Africa in 1980. After 25 years of meritorious service he retired from the Nigerian Air Force. Her American/French-born mother, Sylvaline, is a prominent naturalised Nigerian arts advocate, promoting performance and visual arts at home and abroad as the Chairman of a Nigerian NGO called the Masoma Africa Foundation for the Arts. From a young age, Bello's mother exposed her to musicals, shows and movies which she always found entertaining.
Films
*Sheltered (2005), Director/Producer
*Small Boy[Small Boy Movie.](_blank)
/ref> (2009), Director/Producer
*Flower Girl
Television
*Moments with Mo – Season 1 (2007) Associate Producer
*Sesame Street Nigeria – Season 1 (2010) Director
Music video
*Greenland (2007) Producer
Awards and nominations
* Winner: Best Set Design - Nollywood Movies Awards 2014.[Small Boy: African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).]
* Winner: Best Sound Design - Nollywood Movies Awards 2014.
/ref>
See also
* List of Nigerian film producers
This is a list of notable Nigerian film producers.
* Abdalla Uba Adamu
* Adegboyega Dosunmu Amororo II
* Adekunle Adejuyigbe
* Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino
* Afro Candy
* Aisha Augie-Kuta
* Akanimo Odon
* Akin Ogungbe
* Remi Abiola
* Toyin Abraha ...
* Flower Girl
References
External links
Blu Star Entertainment LimitedIMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bello, Michelle
1982 births
Living people
American University School of Communication alumni
Regent University alumni
Nigerian film producers
Nigerian film directors
Nigerian women film directors
People from Adamawa State
Nigerian women film producers
Women chief executives
AMVCA Trailblazer Award winners
British people of Nigerian descent
Nigerian businesspeople