Nigerian filmmaker Dika Ofoma has won the inaugural AFP Critics Prize at the 5th edition of the S16 Film Festival in Lagos for his short film Obi Is a Boy. The new prize, created by the African Film Press to deepen critical engagement with African cinema, was awarded on December 5 and comes with a certificate, a trophy and a $500 cash prize.
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Ofoma’s win marks the latest milestone in his rise as a filmmaker. Only a year after his short God’s Wife earned him the festival’s Rising Star Award, the 26-year-old filmmaker has added the AFP Critics Prize to a growing list of festival accolades and international recognition. Judging critics of the AFP Critics Prize praise Obi Is a Boy for its observational realism, measured performances and careful attention to everyday detail in a young man’s choice to live on his own terms amid family pressure and social stigma.
This year has been particularly busy for Ofoma. Beyond Obi Is a Boy, he directed Something Sweet, a part of the Zikoko Life anthology that reviewers described as a “breath of fresh air” for its intimate, warm approach to romance, and currently developing his debut feature project Kachifo (Till the Morning Comes), which was selected for Locarno Open Doors programme in 2025 and won three awards, including a $24,720 Open Doors grant, the ArteKino Int’l award and Sørfond Award.
Ofoma’s short films have steadily built an international profile. God’s Wife has screened at various festivals, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam and, New York African Film Festival, while A Quiet Monday was at Kurzfilmtage in Switzerland. Still on that path, Obi Is a Boy, produced by Bluhouse Studios, will have its European premiere in competition at the 2026 Clermont-Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival in France.
Accepting the AFP Critics Prize, Ofoma thanked the festival, highlighting how it has been a space for him to grow as a filmmaker. “S16 has been family and home to me since I started making films… To be so rewarded just a few years into doing what I’m passionate about, I’m so glad,” Ofoma said on stage.
The AFP founders (Jennifer Ochieng, Ikeade Oriade and Tambay Obenson), who served as the inaugural jury, have noted that the prize will move to another African festival next year as part of a plan to rotate the award across the continent.
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