ALEJANDRO COOPER WIND BEST YOUNGEST AFRICAN ACTOR AT THE SOTIGUI AWARDS 2024 – BURKINA FASO

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In a lavish ceremony taking place in Burkina Faso on Saturday 16 November, Alejandro Cooper who plays young Lukas in Philippe Talavera’s film ‘Lukas’ scooped the award for Best Youngest African Actor.

Cooper walked among la crème de la crème of the African cinema to go and collect his trophy. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his director, the cast and crew of ‘Lukas’ for their support. He added ‘‘Lukas’ is about street kids and I would like to also dedicate this award to all the children in Africa who don’t have a roof over their heads. Your stories matter. Your lives matter. I am very impressed you (the Sotigui Academy) have a reward for Best Youngest African Actor. In my country, Namibia, we don’t have such an award. It is very important for children actors to learn the craft. We can become the future actors of this continent. Thank you for recognising us. Thank you for helping us grow and become better.

This is the first time a Namibian actor won this category. Dr Talavera, who attended the ceremony, said ‘I felt incredibly proud when Alejandro’s name was called. It is a huge achievement. Alejandro worked very hard and tackled a difficult role. He completely deserves.’

It is the second time one of Talavera’s films wins an award. In 2028, Adriano Visagie brought back home the Sotigui Award for Best Actor Southern Africa for his role in ‘Salute!’. ‘Namibia has talent’ added Talavera. ‘Unfortunately, we don’t often enough acknowledge the talents we have. We have a small film industry and yet often time politics among ourselves prevent us from moving forward. But I am optimistic: we have actors who can compete internationally. Cooper won not as best youngest Namibian actor but as best youngest African actor. The rest of the world will now look at us. We have to keep nurturing our talents.’

Cooper and Talavera could attend the ceremony thanks to support from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Namibia Film Commission. ‘I met so many people from so many different countries’ said Cooper. ‘I really feel proud of myself today and I hope this will open doors for me. I want to focus on my studies of course, but I would like to continue acting. Thank you to the Sotigui Awards for supporting me.’

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