Reviews
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 […]
‘The Greatest Actor of All Time’ Stage Review: Temi Fosudo’s Three-Person Play on The Price of Artistic Purity
When artists cannot change the world, they bicker. Functioning otherwise as actor, writer and co-producer on the project, Temilolu Fosudo brings an energy easy to root for in his directing of this three-man hassle that […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘Pasa Faho’ Review
AFRIFF: From the beginning of Pasa Faho, Igbo is front and centre in suburban Melbourne in Australia. The soundtrack plays Peter King’s “Jo Jolo” as the white people go about their business on the street. […]
AFRIFF 2025: ‘3 Cold Dishes’ Review
AFRIFF: Revenge is a dish best served cold and the Burna Boy-produced 3 Cold Dishes serves you three incomplete meals that leave you wanting more. Directed by Oluseyi Asurf (Hakkunde), the film tells the story […]
News
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 […]
AFRIFF 2025: Our Festival Highlights and Recap and Full List of Award Winners
In 2023, I was wide-eyed, heart filled with love for film, and ready to experience my first AFRIFF as I made my way to the opening night venue. To my surprise, the event was by […]
Rollpay Africa and Filmmakers Mart Celebrate Nigerian Storytelling at “Nigeria Through My Lens” Film Screening
Rollpay Africa and Filmmakers Mart hosted an inspiring film screening titled “Nigeria Through My Lens” at Alliance Française, Ikoyi, Lagos. The event brought together leaders in the entertainment and business industries to celebrate Nigeria’s vibrant […]
EbonyLife ON Plus Launches with ‘Ajosepo’, ‘Dust to Dreams’, Podcast Offerings and More
EbonyLife Group’s highly anticipated digital platform, EbonyLife ON+, has officially re-launched, marking the next era of digital entertainment and lifestyle brand for Mo Abudu since the international streaming investment slowdown in the region. With the […]
CJ Obasi’s ‘La Pyramide’ Moves to Red Souk Work-in-Progress Market Section, Still in Production
In a bid for further global recognition, audience reach, and funding, the Nigerian film industry has, for years, stretched its branches to different parts of the world, and this is not any different in 2025. […]
Port Harcourt’s Visions Film Society Bridges Global South Cinema with Nigerian Audiences
Film screenings and discussions are already commonplace in Lagos. The city is a Nigerian cinephile’s dream place to live. We documented the work of a couple of initiatives in our 2023 The Tentmakers series. At […]
‘Osamede’ Wins Best Narrative Feature at Silicon Valley Film Festival
Osamede has won Best Narrative Feature at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival, taking top honours for a fantasy film that draws its power from the documented history of the Benin Kingdom. The win recognises […]
Pan-African Collaborations Take a New Turn in E-Sports Drama Series ‘Respawn’
2025 Pan African collaborations take a new and rare turn in Respawn, an e-sports drama series set across Nigeria and South Africa, set to be produced by Sonepa (Nigerian prod company), Nile Entertainment and GameEvo […]
Essays
CJ Obasi’s ‘La Pyramide’ Moves to Red Souk Work-in-Progress Market Section, Still in Production
In a bid for further global recognition, audience reach, and funding, the Nigerian film industry has, for years, stretched its branches to different parts of the world, and this is not any different in 2025. […]
6 Questions with Nengi Adoki: Playing Joy in ‘Juju Stories’, Collaborative Process with Director Obasi and Teases New Episodes of ‘The Most Toasted Girl’
In this interview that took place a while back, Nengi Adoki opens up on her character Joy in Juju Stories, Surreal16’s 3-part horror anthology based on Nigerian folktale, which had a short run in cinemas […]
‘Disconnect: The Wedding Planner’ Review: A Romantic Comedy with Very Little in the Way of Romance or Comedy
If you ever watched Teen Wolf, the MTV high school fantasy drama series that ran from 2011 to 2017, then you’re probably familiar with the riddle, “When is a door not a door?” The answer […]
‘All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White’ By Debut Feature Director Babatunde Apalowo Heads to Berlinale 2023
Babatunde Apalowo’s All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White has been selected for its world premiere at the Berlinale 2023, competing in the Panorama Section of the film festival, one of […]
Kunle Afolayan Announces Next Netflix Project, ‘IJOGBON’, a Coming of Age Family Adventure Film Written By Tunde Babalola
Kunle Afolayan has announced the commencement of production on a new project, Ijogbon, written by frequent collaborator Tunde Babalola, heading to Netflix. Ijogbon follows four teenagers—3 boys and 1 girl—from a rural village in South-West […]
‘The Trade’ Review: Blossom Chukwujekwu-led Timely Story Gets Required Attention and Care
In recent years, one of the most committed crimes in Nigeria has been kidnapping, with an increase in the number of reported kidnapping cases, including a recent high profile case where passengers on an Abuja […]
