Akinola Davies Jnr’s “My Father’s Shadow” is less a narrative in the traditional sense and more an atmospheric record of a particular place, time, and mood: Lagos, June 1993, when Nigeria thought it would elect a new democratic president. The film is set against a volatile historical backdrop, but what Davies captures isn’t the politics as […]
Author: Tambay A. Obenson
African Cinema as a Stock Market Story, One Year Later: Still in the “Prospector Phase”
Note: This is an amusing New Year’s Day market metaphor, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. In December 2024, for the “edutainment” of it all, I introduced an African cinema market analysis that framed the sector’s global position as a stock-market metaphor, examining how attention, capital, and institutional capacity tend to develop over […]
Damola Layonu and Nollywood’s Canadian Pathway
In October 2025, I spent over an hour in conversation with Damola Layonu, a Nigerian film professional based in Oshawa, Ontario, about an hour east of Toronto, Canada. Layonu trained as a lawyer and worked in both Nigeria and Canada before co-founding Snag Productions with his wife, Chiagoziem Obi, a distribution company that, in his […]
Five African Cinema Discourse “Habits” to Leave Behind as 2026 Begins
This essay examines African cinema discourse as 2026 begins, identifying five persistent “habits” that continue to shape how African film is discussed, valued, and imagined. Continuing to move beyond the well-documented macro picture, keying in on less obvious relationships and extrapolations that describe more specific mechanics of African screen activity during the post-COVID years through the […]
“Birdie” (Sundance Review): A Quiet, Formally Rigorous Portrait of Waiting After the Biafran War
In the summer of 1970, at a Catholic refugee home in Virginia (in the United States), a Nigerian mother and her two teenage daughters wait for word of a father lost to the Biafran War. Written and directed by Praise Odigie Paige, “Birdie” is less concerned with the war itself than with what follows it: […]
BAFTA 2026 Longlists Announced: Nigeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Kenya Represented
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the BAFTA 2026 longlists — the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards — the U.K. Oscars equivalent — today, January 9, 2026. British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. appears on the longlist in Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for “My Father’s Shadow,” a United Kingdom–Nigeria production set in […]
Berlinale Co-Production Market 2026 African projects
The Berlinale Co-Production Market has announced the 35 feature film projects selected for its 23rd edition, taking place February 14–17, 2026, during the Berlin International Film Festival. Out of the 35 selected, the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2026 African projects include: Sudan’s “Blue Card” and Cameroon’s “Claude” — representing two countries that are seeing a recent increase in […]
Academy Lists 201 Films for 2026 Oscars Best Picture: Africa-Linked Films Make the Cut
The Academy today released its official list of 201 films eligible for Best Picture consideration at the 2026 Oscars (ceremony March 15). To qualify, films had to complete a seven-day theatrical run in at least 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets within 45 days of their initial 2025 release, plus meet two of four […]
Ghana DStv Subscriptions Rose in a Year of Pricing Disputes, Piracy, and MultiChoice Ownership Change
Ghana DStv Subscriptions Rise After Pricing Dispute Ghana’s National Communications Authority issued a public statement concerning the dispute between the government and MultiChoice, parent company of DStv, the dominant pay-TV service. Earlier in 2025, the government challenged DStv’s repeated price increases, leading to an eventual restructuring of DStv’s packages on October 1: Ghanaian subscribers continued […]
African and African Diaspora Film Festivals Funded by Telefilm Canada for 2026
Telefilm Canada — the federal public agency that provides government funding and support for film and audiovisual projects — has released its funding decisions for film festivals in 2026. Telefilm allocated a combined $2.475 million across two funding programs that included these five African and African diaspora festivals for their 2026 editions: Public funding of […]