What We Do

Our History

When Blu Star Entertainment first started in 2007, I had big dreams of telling African stories in various genres that audiences around the world could relate to. I shot my first feature film, Small Boy, back in 2009 using a Sony Z1 camera with nothing but passion and money from my savings account. I was ecstatic when it was nominated for two awards at the 2008 American Black Film Festival in Los Angeles including including Target Filmmaker and Heineken Red Star awards. The movie went on to win two African Movie Academy Awards and also raised money for charities. I saw first hand the powerful of storytelling and how it can inspire and impact people from different backgrounds and I was hooked.

Our second feature film, Flower Girl, 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 in Los Angeles in October 2013. On 4th 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 Bello, CEO of Blu Star Entertainment, was awarded the prestigious and much coveted Trailblazer Award at the 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. At the Nollywood Movies Awards 2014 held in October, Flower Girl was nominated for an outstanding nine awards including ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’. The movie won four awards including ‘Best Sound Design’, ‘Best Set Design’, ‘Best Soundtrack for Efya’ and ‘Best Editing’.