TIFF has been Nollywood’s most frequented destination on the international festival circuit out of the big 5. Following Freedom Way and The Legend of The Vagabond Queen of Lagos in 2024, this landmark 50th year of the festival is not left out. Three Nigerian titles will be present across two official public sections and Industry Selects (TIFF’s stand-in market).
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The biggest of the three is My Father’s Shadow in the Centrepiece programme, directed by Akinola Davies Jr., which had its world premiere at Cannes where it received a Special Mention for the Caméra d’Or. The film, set for its North American premiere, follows two young brothers who spend a day with their estranged father in Lagos. Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù stars as the father, with real-life brothers Godwin and Chibuike Egbo as the children.
If Davies’ feature looks backwards to Nigeria’s political past, Idris Elba’s Dust to Dreams captures the city’s contemporary rhythms in his directorial debut. Premiering in TIFF’s Short Cuts section, the short film stars British singer and actor Seal, as a Lagos nightclub owner is caught between fractured family bond. Also starring Nse Ikpe-Etim and Constance Olatunde, the project is produced in partnership with Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Films who was last at TIFF in 2022 with Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman.
The third Nigerian title, Stitches, arrives in a different context. Directed by Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong-Manso and produced by Nigeria’s BRS Studios, the film is one of ten works selected for Industry Selects, TIFF’s showcase of audience-ready titles pitched to buyers and distributors. Set in Lagos and starring Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Regina Askia, Adaobi Dibor, and Obinna Okenwa, the film follows a gifted fashion designer from a working-class background whose rise into elite social circles is complicated by love and pressure from her past.
Outside the public festival lineup, there is a filmmaker in the Talent Initiative (Kaelo Iyizoba selected for the TIFF Directors’ Lab) and more films in the market screenings (usually paid slots where producers and sales agents showcase films directly to distributors and industry professionals).
TIFF celebrates its 50th edition this year, taking place from September 4-14, 2025.
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UPDATE (04/09/2025): The plot details of Dust to Dreams was corrected.
