Reviews
S16 Film Festival 2025 Reviews: ‘Ode!,’ ‘70×7,’ and ‘The Passage’
The Passage S16 Film Festival: In The Passage, South African filmmaker Ntokozo Mlaba shoots scenes with a jazzy lightness that veers into an almost supernatural aura. The scenes are slightly elevated from real life with […]
S16 Film Festival 2025 Reviews: ‘Back to the Theatre Vox,’ ‘Second Wind,’ and More
Spoilers Ahead! Morning, Morning S16 Film Festival: Morning, Morning by Gozirimuu Obinna is a quiet, black-and-white ache. It is a film where no one speaks, yet everything is said through eyes that flinch, bodies that […]
‘The Herd’ Review: Daniel Etim Effiong’s Topical Despite Uneven Debut for a Desperate Populace in Desperate Times
Daniel Etim Effiong’s debut feature sits at the centre of an important political quagmire: a country refusing to tackle a complex insecurity issue that threatens to destroy an already delicate national fabric. It takes on […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘To Adaego With Love’ Review
AFRIFF: There are many stories told of victories and the ways they are achieved. The tales of the final battles and surrender, chronicles of the victors and vanquished, narratives strung together of the pacts forged […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘The Boy Who Gave’ Review
AFRIFF: A first feature often defines the trajectory of a director’s career. It shapes how audiences will come to perceive their work and what threads they’ll follow through subsequent projects. For The Boy Who Gave, […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘The Good Gift’ Review
AFRIFF: Today’s sermon, or rather review, will be taken from the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 11, which says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘Lace Relations’ Review (Documentary)
AFRIFF: There are familiar patterns in history, events that repeat themselves with little to no variations, circumstances that mothers and daughters will experience and moments that nations will often not learn from. With Lace Relations, […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘Son of the Soil’ Review
AFRIFF: There is no scarcity of bodies in Son of the Soil. Bleeding and strewn across the streets; glistening with sweat, tears and blood; running and ramming into each other; it’s a visceral violence that […]
News
S16 Launches Distribution Arm, Announces Film Lab and Monthly Film Screenings
The S16 Film Festival closed its fifth edition with some major announcements, unveiling plans to launch a film lab, monthly screenings, and a dedicated distribution arm beginning in 2026. What began as a filmmaker-centred festival […]
Funmbi Ogunbanwo and Wale Davies Call for Stronger Systems and Structure to Protect The Nollywood Story
Hardly a public statement of direction has come from Netflix, one of the foreign platforms that has invested heavily in Nollywood in recent years. But that momentum noticeably slowed at the beginning of the year, […]
Circuits Expands Beyond Streaming, Co-Produces ‘King of Thieves 2’ and ‘Agbara Nla: The Return’
Two anticipated Nollywood projects, King of Thieves 2 and a remake of the classic, Agbara Nla, have recently been announced with the streaming platform, Circuits named as a co-producer on both projects. Being on board […]
S16 Film Festival 2025: Official Shorts & Feature Film Selection Lineup
Following 2024’s Technologic theme, the S16 Film Festival is now calling upon all of the lights for its 2025 edition. Themed ‘Let There Be Light’, the festival is now in its fifth edition and brings not […]
Mami Wata Legend-Inspired ‘Crocodile Dance’ Joins Growing Push Toward Crowdfunded African Animation
African animators and studios in recent years have increasingly turned to audiences and crowdfunding to move their animated projects forward. The latest example is Crocodile Dance, an African futurist animated thriller inspired by the Mami […]
Port Harcourt’s VISIONS Film Society Opens With Films on Home, Migration and Belonging
Port Harcourt may not be a hub for regular film activity, but it holds urgent, overlooked stories, and filmmaker Olohije Oyakhire believes those narratives deserve intentional cinematic engagement. Her vision is straightforward: build a steady, […]
Onyinye Odokoro to Star in Melon House’s Debut Feature ‘Adanne’, A Story Across Three Igbo Generations
Melon House Production has announced its first feature film, Adanne, a family drama set to begin production in November 2025. Written and produced by Gold Gerry (Boo’d Up) and directed by Orobosa Ikponmwen, the film […]
AFRIFF 2025 Interviews Roundup: Zoey Martinson, Allison Precious Emmanuel, Williams Uchemba and More
It’s still very much AFRIFF season over here until the last AFRIFF post drops. For this reason, we’re highlighting some of the interviews that filmmakers, actors had with What Kept Me Up, right from the […]
Essays
Funmbi Ogunbanwo and Wale Davies Call for Stronger Systems and Structure to Protect The Nollywood Story
Hardly a public statement of direction has come from Netflix, one of the foreign platforms that has invested heavily in Nollywood in recent years. But that momentum noticeably slowed at the beginning of the year, […]
Nollywood Films About COVID and Other Pandemics
It’s been almost 5 years since COVID-19 began—and even longer since the Ebola outbreak—yet echoes of the pandemic remain in unique ways (or maybe it’s just the economic inflation reminding us of darker times). Lives […]
‘Crossroads’ Review: 80s Costume Cannot Conceal Messy Campus Drama
Aishat Lawal, known better for her role as one of the meddlesome wives of the Alaafin in the Anikulapo film and series, takes on more principal roles in this self-produced film. The actress plays the […]
‘The Betrayed’ Review: Zulu Oyibo’s Debut Stumbles Over Dead Ends in Lacklustre Mystery Thriller
Until 2023, Naz Onuzo, one of the three Inkblot founders, was the only one consistently behind the camera as a director at the studio. Last year, Damola Ademola made his directorial debut with a one-location […]
‘Shìna’ Review: An Average Crime Drama Led By Timini Egbuson And That’s Just About It
In this crime thriller co-directed by Muyiwa Adesokun and Carmen Ike–Okoro, Timini Egbuson stars as the titular Shina, a young taxi driver with a tight deadline to raise money for his critically ill grandmother’s surgery. […]
7 Nollywood Sports Films You Should Know About
In the spirit of the Olympic Games, we’ve compiled a list of Nollywood films that touch on sports (at least, to some degree). While many of these films showcase remarkable individuals striving to excel in […]
