Reviews
‘On Different Grounds’ Review: Nollywood Veterans Elevate Mildred Okwo’s Uneven Romantic Comedy
A Nigerian wedding party, as much as it is a celebration, is often a power play. A place where influence is tested, alliances are forged and a pecking order is established. There is a clashing […]
‘Blood Sisters’ Season 2 Review: EbonyLife’s Netflix Thriller Expands Its World of Excess, for Better and Worse
In a rare Nigerian series continuation on Netflix, Blood Sisters returns four years after its first season in 2022, picking up directly from the Ademola family shooting. While Uncle B (Ramsey Nouah) dies from the […]
‘MKO’ Review: Ose Oyamendan Revisits the Wound of June 12 and Nigeria’s Greatest Political What-If (Sheffield DocFest 2026)
Hope, they say, is a very, very stubborn thing. It survives military coups. It survives broken promises. It survives politicians campaigning the language of change and turning around to enforce the language of power just […]
‘Call Of My Life’ Review: Uzoamaka Power Dials into the Nigerian Romcom Canon with Heart and Familiarity
The definition of a romcom is a well-documented and defined concept, parameters are often rigid and the story must follow a formula: hot boy plus beautiful girl plus almost fantastical meeting equals forever after. Dammy […]
Nollywoodweek 2026: Ema Edosio’s ‘When Nigeria Happens’ Review
Nollywoodweek: In the final scene of When Nigeria Happens, we see how submission has been tortured into Fagbo as he mindlessly marches with a group of men, shorn of his former locs and despair sat […]
NollywoodWeek 2026: Laju Iren’s ‘Onobiren’ Review
NollywoodWeek: Nollywood has drawn sustained criticism for its reductive portrayals of women. This tendency emerges from a convergence of socio-cultural frameworks—particularly established patriarchal norms—and external narrative inheritances traceable to Classical Hollywood Cinema, privileging archetypal characterization […]
Nollywoodweek 2026: Thomas Letellier’s ‘Batwing Unmasked’ Review (Documentary)
Nollywoodweek: There is a familiar thrill that runs through Batwing Unmasked. Not the thrill of a recognition of a hero (Africa has had many, and visual and comic artist Loyiso Mkize highlights Ororo as an […]
NollywoodWeek 2026: Orire Nwani’s ‘Hussaini’ Review (Short Film)
Nollywoodweek: There is a very good chance that Hussaini would break your heart. The eighteen-minute-long film opens in a mosque, where Hussaini, among a small congregation of men, bows in prayer. We then follow him […]
News
The Critics Company’s ‘Crocodile’ Selected for Locarno Open Doors 2026 as AFP Critics Prize Returns
The Critics Company’s documentary Crocodile has been selected for the Open Doors Screenings section of the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, continuing the festival run for the Nigerian film collective’s project. This year’s […]
African Film Press Introduces Logline, a Daily Film-Guessing Challenge to Boost African Cinema Discovery
African Film Press has launched Logline, a daily film-guessing knowledge quiz that challenges players to identify African films using a series of clues, the alliance’s first interactive initiative aimed at increasing the discoverability of African […]
Adé Sultan Sangodoyin Reveals First Poster for ‘We Must Begin Again, Together’, Set for Afrika Film Festival Köln World Premiere (Exclusive)
Nigerian filmmaker Adé Sultan Sangodoyin‘s We Must Begin Again, Together will make its world premiere at the 23rd edition of Afrika Film Festival Köln, which runs from September 17–27, 2026, in Cologne, Germany. As part […]
Nigerian Government Launches Free Digital TV, Joining Recent Continental Efforts to Strengthen Creative Industries
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to launch a nationwide free-to-air digital television platform, offering Nigerians access to more than 100 television channels at no subscription cost. The initiative, part of the country’s […]
Dika Ofoma’s ‘Kachifo’ Lands Norway’s Sørfond Grant, Adds DUOfilm as Co-Producer
Nigerian filmmaker Dika Ofoma’s Kachifo (Till the Morning Comes) has secured NOK 600,000 (approximately USD 64,000) in production support through Norway’s Sørfond 2026 fund, adding a new international partner to the feature project as it […]
Kobby Boateng’s Ghana–Swiss Co-Production ‘The God of Odds’ Enters Post-Production, Reveals New Teaser (Exclusive)
Exclusive: The God of Odds, a new Ghana–Switzerland co-production from ASAP Studio and 9 NIGHTS, has completed principal photography and entered post-production. What Kept Me Up can exclusively unveil the film’s second teaser. Written & […]
What ‘My Father’s Shadow’ Meant to the Anikulapo-Kuti Family at Private Screening
I am plugged in to My Father’s Shadow Soundtrack, 2026 AMVCA Best Score winner, as I scribble down my experience after a private screening of the film with members of the Kuti family ahead of […]
Talents Durban 2026 Announces Nigerian Participants Across Projects and Talent Press
Nigeria will be represented across multiple strands of Talents Durban 2026, with two projects selected for development, a critic participating in the Talent Press programme, and two industry figures returning as part of the initiative’s […]
Essays
Why Migration Keeps Returning to Nigerian Cinema
Imagine a young man in Lagos, hands calloused from fixing generators, staring at a passport like it’s a relic. He dreams of Spain—not the beaches or the football, but a place where the lights stay […]
AFRIFF 2024: ‘Recall’ Review
AFRIFF: The ambiguity of spirituality has always been a point of conversation in Kunle Afolayan’s films. One of his most popular films, The Figurine, places you in a conundrum at the end where you wonder […]
AFRIFF 2024: ‘Freedom Way’ Review
AFRIFF: In Freedom Way, we are presented with a lesson in the ripple effect of bad governance. The ways policies affect all levels of society are on display: the poor who long for the most […]
AFRIFF 2024: ‘The Legend of the Vagabond Queen Of Lagos’ Review
AFRIFF: Poverty is a deeply Nigerian condition. It weaves through our lives, some with worse wear than others; but there is no existence in Nigeria not impacted by poverty. It is also an orchestrated condition, […]
AFRIFF 2024: ‘Phoenix Fury’ Review
AFRIFF: To weave a fictionalized past and present into a working tapestry of film is a test of many aspects of the process: the writing must be tight and every excess must be trimmed; the […]
AFRIFF 2024: ‘The Man Died’ Review
AFRIFF: To adapt a book is a struggle of ideas, to adapt a Soyinka book is a struggle of ideas and style, to adapt The Man Died is a struggle of ideas, style, form and […]
