The 11th edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is finally over, but we are still reeling from the events. The festival themed, "Indigenous for Global", took place from November 6 - 12, 2022 at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, Nigeria, and saw filmmakers and industry professionals troop in from various parts of the country and all around the world.
The festival kicked off on November 6 with the premiere of Prime Video’s award-winning psychological horror film, Nanny. It also played host to the West African premiere of Marvel's Wakanda Forever, whose director, Ryan Coogler, and star-studded cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Winston Duke and Michaela Coel, were in attendance.
Regarding the theme of the event, Festival Director Chioma Ude noted that filmmaking has evolved in Africa over the last two decades and this year’s edition is designed to influence global perspectives of African films and storytelling. She stressed that the need for Africa to improve in music, sounds, and visuals while filming has propelled them to gather creators, music scoring companies, animation experts and others.
In an Instagram post, our Chief Executive Officer, Anita Edwards, who attended the event alongside our Head of Operations, Helene Chike, described her experience saying, "I had such an incredible time at AFRIFF yesterday. To say Nollywood has come a long way would be an understatement." She also noted that many industry professionals have diversified the scope of their work, saying, "It's now commonplace to find industry professionals who are active both in front of and behind the camera." "I love that creatives are fully embracing the business of their art, and I think this era of the business-minded creative will propel our industry into new heights," she added.
Speaking on the need for distribution structures across the African film industry, she remarked, "Distribution is still a pain point for so many producers, and this remains a continent-wide problem. I'm super glad that we at TWS Distribution can meet and are meeting this need for producers and content creators across the continent."
The festival wrapped with the closing film, Almajiri, by award winning director, Toka Mcbaror, which was also nominated for the Best Picture category at the AFRIFF Globe Awards on Saturday, November 12.
See pictures of our team at the festival on Friday below.
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