The Nativity story is heading to Nigerian screens, but not exactly as told in the gospels. Play Network has announced a new project, Silent Night, a reimagining of the birth of Jesus Christ retold within a pre colonial Nigerian setting. The film will follow the two famed characters whose lives are thrown into turmoil by a mysterious and unexplainable pregnancy.
Silent Night will be produced by Play Network Studios in collaboration with Namibia’s Mondjila Studios. Moses Inwang (Blood Vessel) is on board as director, with Rogers Ofime (a past collaborator on Skeleton Coast) as producer; with a script penned by Olympia Okonmah and Lucas Tobin-Campbell.
In an instagram post shared by Charles Okpaleke (CEO of Play Network Studios) and Play Network Studios, Silent Night is described as a project that “uses visual storytelling and the cultural landscapes of ancient Nigeria to explore themes of faith, courage, hope, and responsibility,” adding that the project blends romance and spirituality in ways that feel especially relevant to the modern world.
This collaboration between Play Network Studios and Mondjila Studios follows their work on the yet-to-be-released pan African project Skeleton Coast, which earned eight AMVCA nominations in 2025.
Mostly known for reinterpreting classics such as Nneka the Pretty Serpent, Living in Bondage: Breaking Free, and Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, Play Network Studios continues this tradition in another way with Silent Night, this time reworking a biblical narrative through a distinctly Nigerian lens and adding to their ever-long list of projects in the pipeline.
Play Network, yet to make any major theatrical move since the foreign streaming slowdown, most recently released Hijack 93 on Netflix.
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