AFRIFF 2022 Jury
The Best Feature Film award was given to KOFA, a suspense thriller by acclaimed Nigerian writer/director Jude Idada. KOFA tells the gripping story of eight men and women who awake in a dark room with no memory of how they got there, no idea of the intent of their violent captors, and no prayer of rescue — unless they can make a plan. The movie serves as both a riveting tale of horror-tinged intrigue and a rousing testimony — in our current era of division and strife — to the power of strangers uniting for a common goal.
NO U-TURN, directed by Ike Nnaebue, won Best Documentary (Africa). An international festival favorite, No U-Turn takes us on a voyage of discovery through which we experience the dramatic tensions, twists and turns of Africa’s cross-border routes used by desperate migrants in their quest to seek asylum in Europe. With stark imagery and an immersive visual narrative, No U-Turn presents a filmic, engaging and gripping experience and narrative for which the Jury is pleased to award it the Best Documentary (Africa) prize of the 2022 Africa International Film Festival.
AFRIFF – the Africa International Film Festival – is West Africa’s largest and most established film festival. The festival, founded and run by Nigerian entertainment powerhouse Chioma Ude, is a weeklong celebration of the best of African and Nigerian content.
The festival’s 11th edition this year included hundreds of screenings, including the African premieres of Amazon Prime Studios’ “The Nanny” and Disney/Marvel’s “Wakanda Forever”; dozens of industry panels featuring local creators and talent in addition to international and global industry executives; numerous pitch sessions; daily workshops; and countless opportunities to network, connect, discuss, plan and celebrate the explosion of Nigerian and African cinema across the globe.
Chioma Ude reaffirmed her belief in harnessing the power of African storytelling and empowering African storytellers by providing them with unparalleled opportunities to grow, shine and thrive, and platforms like AFRIFF where their talent is recognized, their voices are heard and their creative spirit is nurtured.
Jury members of the 11 th edition of the AFRIFF included: global TV executive Danna Stern (Jury President), actress Wafa’a Celine Halawi, filmmaker and producer Femi Odugbemi, producer and director Steve Gukas, filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, global producer Nicholas Weinstock, and content executive Jenny Alonzo.
Note From AFRIFF Jury
MAPPING SURVIVAL, Nacho Corbella’s documentary profile on Chadian indigenous climate activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, is the big winner of The Special Jury Prize at AFRIFF, the Africa International Film Festival held in Lagos, Nigeria.
The film was praised by the jury for its raw, urgent and intimate portrayal of Hindou’s heroic crusade to draw the world’s attention to the catastrophic effects of climate change on indigenous people in Africa and in Chad in particular.
“We were mesmerized by Hindou’s power, passion and lifelong dedication to bringing attention and finding solutions to the destruction of the indigenous way of life caused by climate change. We urge world leaders, corporations and educators to hear and learn from activists like Hindou who are devoting their lives to the effort to save others. ‘Mapping Survival’ is a perfect representation of this year’s AFRIFF theme, ‘Indigenous for Global,’ and we are honored to use the festival’s platform to amplify the filmmaker’s message in the hope that it reaches a worldwide audience and helps change
our present and most importantly our future.”
From Nacho Corbella, the director of “Mapping Survival”: “It's an honor to be recognized by AFRIFF.
We are delighted that Hindou Omaru Ibrahim's story resonated with the jury. We have come to a crossroad in our history when it’s become crucial to look back and learn from the lives of our ancestors and how they used to live in harmony with the environment. Their knowledge is essential if we want to heal our planet. This is the story of how a nomad in Chad, while advocating for the rights of her community, has become a leader in the fight against climate change and a voice for Indigenous people across the planet.”