Celebration: Chimamanda, Chiwetel, others honour Oprah Winfrey

Celebration: Chimamanda, Chiwetel, others honour Oprah Winfrey

March 13, 2018

L-R: Ava DuVernay, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Vogue

Nigerian bestselling author Chimamanda Adichie and British-Nigerian award winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor were among celebrities at an intimate tea reception in honour of American media mogul, Oprah Winfrey.

The reception was organised by Edward Enninful, the editor in chief of British Vogue Magazine, to celebrate Oprah’s role in Disney film ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ at the Connaught Hotel, in London.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adichie and Ejiofor worked together in 2013 when Ejiofor starred as ‘Odenigbo’ in the film version of Adichie’s bestselling book ‘Half Of A Yellow Sun’.

Adichie is a multi award winning writer and her second book ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ won the Orange Prize.

In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant.

Her latest book ‘Americanah’ was recently recognised by the New York Times as one of ‘15 remarkable books by women that are reshaping the way fiction in the 21st century’.

Ejiofor, who frequently identifies with his Nigerian roots, is a Primetime Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

The actor, who is best known for his role as ‘Solomon Northup’ in the award winning 2013 film ’12 Years A Slave’, is set to star as ‘Scar’ in the upcoming Disney’s ‘Lion King’.

The two were spotted among other high profile guests including ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ director Ava DuVernay, Idris Elba, Steve McQueen, Reese Witherspoon and ‘Game of Thrones’ star Gwendoline Christie.


L-R:Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oprah Winfrey, Edward Enninful and Steve McQueen. Photo Credit: Vogue

A Wrinkle in Time, is an American science fantasy adventure film directed by Ava DuVernay from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee, and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Madeleine L’Engle.

NAN reports that the movie stars American stars including Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid and others.

The movie tells the story of a young girl who sets off on a quest, with the help of three astral travellers, to find her father, who went missing after discovering a new planet.

The movie raked in over 33 million dollars at its opening weekend, coming second after ‘Black Panther’ which was also produced by the same company.