The 69th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled its lineup, with three Nigerian films among the official selections. The festival, which runs from 8 to 19 October 2025 in London and across the UK, will present 247 features, including six world premieres, ten international premieres and eleven European premieres.
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Among them is Akinola Davies Jr’s debut feature My Father’s Shadow, screening in the First Feature Competition. Set in Lagos during the fraught atmosphere of Nigeria’s 1993 presidential election, the semi-autobiographical drama follows two brothers (Godwin and Chibuike Egbo) spending a day with their estranged father (Sope Dirisu) on a Lagos trip.
Also in the First Feature Competition is One Woman One Bra, by Kenyan director Vincho Nchogu and Nigerian producer Josh Olaoluwa. Developed at the Venice Biennale College Cinema, the film tells the story of Star, a 38-year-old unmarried woman facing eviction from her home when her community begins distributing land deeds based on kinship ties. A photograph linking her to a local food seller sets her on a moving search for belonging and rightful inheritance.
In the Shorts section, Dust to Dreams by Idris Elba will make its next festival appearance after its TIFF world premiere in September. Produced by Abudu’s EbonyLife, the film is described as a Lagos-set tale of a fractured family unit finding healing through music.
Other diaspora filmmakers with Nigerian roots also feature in the lineup. These include Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers (UK, First Feature Competition) which we reviewed at Berlinale, Yemi Bamiro’s Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (UK–USA, Official Competition) and Bex Oluwatoyin Thompson’s Another Other (USA, Experimenta).
BFI London Film Festival runs from 8–19 October 2025, and screenings are open to everyone. Tickets will be available for sale.
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