AFRIFF 2026: Chioma Ude says the future of film is women and tech

The festival went looking for the future in machines. The films it chose pointed somewhere else.

When the Africa International Film Festival settled on “Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence” as the theme of its 15th edition, the plan looked just as settled. Panels on technology. Workshops on artificial intelligence. A week in Lagos built around the tools that will shape the next generation of African cinema.

Then the phone rang from Canada.

At the AFRIFF 2026 press conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, this week, festival founder and director Chioma Ude explained what that call did to her festival. In a video interview recorded at the briefing, she said the festival’s head programmer had called with news about the final selection.

About 85% of the feature films chosen, the programmer told her, had female producers or female directors, or told the stories of women.

“And so it hit me that when man proposes, God will say his own,” Ude said. “At the end of the day, God is telling us that the future of film, the frame of the future, is going to be women and technology.”

What Chioma Ude said about women and technology at AFRIFF 2026

Ude said the organisers had “all focused and thought about technology” when they chose this year’s theme, so most of the panels and workshops are built around it. The selection committee’s choices added a second half to the answer that nobody had planned.

She did not let the technology half drop. At the press conference, she had a blunt message for filmmakers who fear artificial intelligence: “AI is not going to take anyone’s job, but rather the person who knows how to use AI will replace those who don’t.”

The women half is already on the screen. AFRIFF 2026 opens with Lady, the debut feature of Lagos-born, London-based director Olive Nwosu. The film follows a tough Lagos cab driver who becomes the reluctant driver for a childhood friend she lost touch with, and the women in that friend’s circle. It won the Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

The festival closes with It’s the Blackness, the first feature directed by veteran actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim. Hollywood actor Djimon Hounsou is AFRIFF’s guest of honour this year, and Oscar nominee Danielle Brooks is a special guest with the film If I Go Will They Miss Me.

Bovi and Nollywood faces at the AFRIFF press conference

The briefing, held at the Victoria Island headquarters of Mikano International, one of the festival’s partners, drew a crowd from film, entertainment and diplomacy. Comedian and actor Bovi Ugboma was among the familiar faces, stopping at the AFRIFF press wall to speak to reporters alongside other figures from the Nigerian film industry.

The Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Dr Shaibu Husseini, represented the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa. The US Consul General in Lagos, Brandon Hudspeth, and the Brazilian and French consuls general also attended. “No studio, platform, or artist can meet these new industry challenges alone,” said the French Consul General, Laurent Favier.

A new award for young filmmakers

Ude also pointed to the youngest people in the room. Pulse Nigeria, the festival’s official social media partner, she said, is “capturing the very young ones and encouraging them”, and there will be a special award for young filmmakers this year. The new Pulse Rising Filmmaker Award joins the categories at the AFRIFF Globe Awards, which close the festival on 7 November.

AFRIFF 2026 dates, venues and tickets

The 15th AFRIFF runs from 1 to 7 November 2026 in Lagos, with screenings across the city’s cinemas. More than 130 films have been selected, 23 of them features. The Africa Film and Content Market (AFCM), the festival’s business arm, runs from 2 to 5 November at Twinwaters, Lekki.

For the first time, festival screenings will not be free. AFRIFF’s ticket page says a Festival Access pass will cover every screening from 1 to 7 November, with prices and early-bird rates to be announced. Masterclass places are limited, and industry badges for the market are issued through the AFCM. The organisers have also announced that the Obi Adada Foundation will cover screening tickets for young creatives and film enthusiasts; details of who qualifies have not yet been published. Check afriff.com/tickets for the latest.

What AFRIFF 2026 means for Nigerian filmmakers

Read together, Ude’s two halves are a brief for anyone making films in Nigeria right now.

First, stories by and about women are not a niche. They made up the bulk of what one of Africa’s biggest film festivals chose this year, and the opening film took them to Sundance and Berlin before it came home to Lagos.

Second, the tools are changing faster than the industry. Ude’s warning is not that AI will replace filmmakers, but that filmmakers who learn it will replace those who do not. The masterclasses and workshops at AFRIFF 2026 are where that learning starts.

Third, there is now a dedicated prize for the newest voices. For a young director with a phone, a laptop and a story, the Pulse Rising Filmmaker Award is a reason to finish the film.

Nigerian cinema is having a busy season: Dear Ajayi is Nigeria’s entry for the 2027 Oscars, and the animated Passport of Mallam Ilia is travelling to festivals abroad. AFRIFF 2026 now asks who will tell the next stories, and with what tools.

Will you be at AFRIFF 2026, or do you have a film in the selection? Tell GistMatrix.

AFRIFF 2026: quick answers

When is AFRIFF 2026?

The 15th Africa International Film Festival runs from 1 to 7 November 2026 in Lagos. The AFRIFF Globe Awards close the festival on 7 November.

What is the AFRIFF 2026 theme?

“Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence”.

What is the opening film of AFRIFF 2026?

Lady, directed by Olive Nwosu. The closing film is It’s the Blackness, directed by Hakeem Kae-Kazim.

Is AFRIFF 2026 free?

No. Screenings are ticketed for the first time, with prices to be announced on afriff.com. The organisers say the Obi Adada Foundation will cover screening tickets for some young creatives and film enthusiasts.

Who founded AFRIFF?

Chioma Ude, who is the festival’s founder and festival director.

What did Chioma Ude say about the future of film?

She said in a video interview at the briefing that the future of film “is going to be women and technology”, after about 85% of the feature films selected for AFRIFF 2026 turned out to have female producers or directors, or to tell women’s stories.

Related on GistMatrix: From screenplay to top 10: how The God Weaver found its readers · Issakaba: The Return hits cinemas on 13 November, 25 years on

Video and photo credit: Pulse Nigeria