AFRIFF opens its 15th edition with Olive Nwosu’s LADY and 119 films

Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is running its 15th edition in Lagos from Saturday 1 to Friday 7 November, opening with Olive Nwosu’s feature debut LADY and closing with Hakeem Kae-Kazim’s It’s the Blackness. The festival’s official selection page lists 119 films across nine categories, from features and documentaries to shorts, animation and student work, alongside the second Africa Film & Content Market at Twinwaters in Lekki.

Key facts

• Dates: 1–7 November 2026, Lagos; 15th edition; founder and festival director Chioma Ude
• Opening: LADY, Olive Nwosu (United Kingdom/Nigeria, 93 min), Sunday 1 November, 6pm (invitation only)
• Closing: It’s the Blackness, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Landmark Cinemas, Friday 6 November, 8.30pm (invitation only)
• Selection: 119 films across nine categories on the official programme page
• Market: Africa Film & Content Market (AFCM), Monday 2–Thursday 5 November, Twinwaters, Lekki

AFRIFF is West Africa’s largest film festival and the main industry gathering on the Nigerian calendar between Marrakech and the year-end awards circuit. The edition’s public theme is “Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence.” Headline partners named on the festival site include Filmhouse Group, MTN, Mikano and Martell.

Courtesy of Africa International Film Festival

Opening and closing films

LADY, a 93-minute UK–Nigeria drama in English and Nigerian Pidgin, follows a Lagos cab driver and the sisterhood that forms when a childhood friend returns. Nwosu writes and directs; producers are Alex Polunin, John Giwa-Amu and Stella Nwimo. The cast includes Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah, Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Precious Agu Eke, Seun Kuti and Bucci Franklin, according to the festival film page.

Kae-Kazim’s It’s the Blackness closes the public programme at Landmark Cinemas on 6 November. Special Presentations include Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Walter Thompson-Hernandez’s If I Go Will They Miss Me and Kaelo Iyizoba’s The Spectacular Death of Prisca.

Market and industry

The Africa Film & Content Market runs four days from 2 to 5 November at Twinwaters, Lekki, bringing African and international producers together with investors, distributors and streamers. The festival site also lists masterclasses, a Producers Lab under AFRIFF Academy, and Globe Awards at the end of the week. Nigerian box-office titles such as Agbara Nla: The Return, which Nile reported past NGN408m, sit in the same exhibition market the festival serves; East African theatrical windows such as Emily Atef’s Call Me Queen show how regional releases now often pair cinemas with a fast streamer date. AFRIFF itself is a programming and industry platform rather than a box-office chart.

Full selection

Titles and directors below follow AFRIFF’s official selection page, which states 119 films across nine categories. Spelling and capitalisation are as published there.

Opening Movie

• LADY, Olive Nwosu

Closing movie

• It’s the Blackness, Hakeem Kae-Kazim

Special Presentations

• Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier
• If I Go Will They Miss Me, Walter Thompson-Hernandez
• The Spectacular Death of Prisca, Kaelo Iyizoba

Features

In Competition

• ABENI, Esse Akwawa, Samuel Olasehinde
• HADDA, Ahmed Riad
• Which Way, Jide Okeke
• SLUM BOMBER, Maureen Jolly Nankya
• Variations on a Theme, Devon Delmar, Jason Jacobs
• ONE WOMAN ONE BRA, VINCHO NCHOGU
• RIVERSTONE, Lalith Rathnayake
• WHERE THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT, LAM Can-zhao
• NOAH’S DAUGHTER, Amirreza Jalalian
• MABANDA, Kang Quintus
• The Tropic Sun and His Eyes, Elisee Junior St Preux

Out of Competition

• THE HOSPITAL CHRONICLES: THE ICU, Segilola
• Lego Queen, Haitham Sulaiman
• Guardian of the Field, Mohamadreza Kheradmandan
• A very ordinary Life, Muhammed Deniz
• Bad Blood, yemi ”Filmboy” Morafa
• TWO, Nana Kofi Asihene
• Boys Wear Pink Too, Charles Uwagbai
• ADANNE, Orobosa Ikponmwen

Documentary

In Competition

• Meanwhile in Namibia, Jonas Spriestersbach
• Three Black Men, Sienna McLean-LoGreco
• Hope is a Word, Maria Galliani Dyrvik
• SUYA – A Spicy piece of Home, Daro Umaigba
• Miss Jobson, Amanda Amanda Sans Pantling
• Colors & Curves, Walter Johnson Jr.
• Dreaming of Serenada, Katrine Weber
• His Story, Shibaji Gupta
• KUBANA, ALUNAYA
• FOR LIFE, Ahmet Seven
• Eseuseu, Zaya Benazzo & Maurizio Benazzo
• We Are Hadza, Hannah Otsuka
• Truck Mama, Zippy Nyaruri

Out of Competition

• Nollywood (The Untold Story), Oluwaseun Akinseloyin
• Dr. Mbongeni Ngema ‘this is my story’, Lindani Mbense
• The Red and The Grey Matter, Willie Schumann, Rainer Traube
• Amazing Grace YorubaWorlds, Raynald Leconte
• Perception: The Nigerian Narrative, Oluyinka Davids
• Mugabe & Me, Roy Agyemang

Documentary Shorts

In Competition

• Mi Tazi, Blessing Bulus
• Taste of the Land, Nondumiso Masache
• Mon Taxi, Meriem Sakrouhi
• JARABI, Maik Proessler
• Shared Space, Donal Boyd, Emma Romeijn
• Concrete Moves, Fagamou Fama Ndiaye
• Throne Of Wood, Sadegh Kazemi

Out of Competition

• Beyond Tarkwa Bay, Peter Oke
• Totally Torie, Caroline Josey Karoki
• Black Beyond Borders: Colombia (Season Two), Ebony Walden
• Anchor Points, Victor Quijada & Samuel Greffe

Shorts

In Competition

• Birdie, Praise Odigie Paige
• In The Shadows 75, Zubayr Zubayr
• Serubawon, Samuel Adeoye
• Leopard of Congo, Kiosa Sukami
• STAY, Onyinye Blessing
• On or Before Two Weeks, Eliyahu Rochester
• A Tray of Locust Beans (AKA “ATOLB”), Orobosa Ikponmwen
• OBE (SOUP), HORLA MANUVOR
• RAMAT, STEVE BABAEKO
• WAITING FOR MY SISTER, Chimereogo Chiagozie Nwoke-Chima
• Little Soldier, Roxan Karami
• Rooted, Sultan Ali Al Qamshouai

Out of Competition

• Touch, Mohammad Davoodi Kia
• Anwuli, Victor Eyike
• Nneoma, Stella Damasus
• NollyBabes, Anu Bamidele
• The Letter, Jeanai Israel
• Love Zuri, Okema T. Moore
• The Heir, Tia A. Smith
• White Agbada, Lande Yoosuf
• Godpower, Geoff Browne
• SOYAYA da JINI (love and blood), Ifeanyi Barbara Chidi
• An Isolated Incident / Caso Isolado, Jamila Facury, Edson Lemos Akatoy
• The Garden of Healing, Ozor Uche
• Rage, Fran Moreno Blanco, Santi Pujol Amat
• The Memory of Mother Cleo, Márcio Ferreira, Rafa Beck
• The Circle, Godsent Abode
• The Trophy, Nathan Lauer
• The translator, Milad.shiri
• Restoration, Alexander Etseyatse
• Humdrum, Elelwani Netshifhire
• CALABASH, Omar S. Kamara
• Dented, Rejoice Eteng
• THE OTHER GAZE, Dominic Aikabeli
• ALEX S†D, Bongani Baloyi & Botlhale Boikanyo
• SANCTUARY, Chavala Aaron Yaduma
• Love Song, Nofisat “Love Nafi” Almaroof
• TILL DEATH, Yana Bille-Chung
• Yellow Slipper, Tayo Elesin
• New Age Matrix, Yasmin Teniola Idris
• Binta is Okay, Fatimah Binta Gimsay
• Asake’s Sin, Olumide Kuti
• The One who Cries, Cyrille Gueï
• Warden, SABAH MOHAMMADI
• YOU’RE THE BOSS!, AMIN KHANKAL
• American Dream, Houra Kian
• Like A Hook Into An EYE, Reza Pordel
• ALÁBÀÁRÙ, Russell Oru
• The BED, Azim Sheikhakbari Zadeh
• Narmook, Ghazal Zoghiniya
• Amerikan Boy, Tobe Mokolo
• wahm, Issa Alsubhi
• Milk and Ash, Amarachukwu Uche Onoh

Animation

In Competition

• Lice n’ Shine, Maria Byoma
• The Lion Of Gwoza, Adeoye Adetunji
• Rain, Tabitha Mwale
• Ìfẹ́ àti Ikú (LOVE AND DEATH), Favour Babalola

Out of Competition

• Ctrl 4c, Talia Balogun
• “The Faithful City” (Worcester Worthies), Stanley Ohikhuare & David Ohikhuare
• Trials Of The Spear: Test Pilot Episode 1

Student Shorts

• On The Backburner, Krisztián Kajtár
• Maktoub, Kunle Fasasi
• Wasabi, Uhoman Blonded Baby Moltok
• Sinai America, Rewan Mousa
• Dawayer – The fallen angel, Kerolous Gamal Kamel

Our reading

For buyers and sales agents, AFRIFF’s value is the density of African premieres and works-in-progress in one West African hub during the first week of November, timed with AFCM meetings rather than as a pure red-carpet stop. LADY as opener signals a UK–Nigeria co-production path that festivals and streamers already recognise; the test is whether market titles leave Lagos with concrete next steps. The next evidence that would settle the edition’s industry weight is announced deals or financing from AFCM and which competition titles travel to Berlin, Rotterdam or the spring markets.

Sources

• AFRIFF, Official Selection / FILM SELECTION 2026 (119 films across 9 categories)
• AFRIFF, LADY film page (opening movie; credits, runtime, countries)
• AFRIFF home (dates 1–7 November 2026, Lagos; AFCM 2–5 November)
• The Sun Nigeria, AFRIFF unveils programme for 15th edition (theme, market partners; secondary)