AFRIFF 2026 to Feature Film Market, Connect African Filmmakers With Investors
The founder of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Chioma Ude, has announced plans to introduce a film market at the 2026 edition of the festival, alongside other activities aimed at creating opportunities for African filmmakers.
Ude disclosed this while speaking on the plans for the festival, explaining that the film market would provide filmmakers with opportunities to connect with distributors, sales agents and investors who could help them take their work further.
According to her, AFRIFF goes beyond film premieres and red-carpet events, as it also provides a platform for filmmakers to meet important industry players and build professional relationships.
“The best and most important thing you should do is give them avenues to those people,” she said, adding that nobody would hand success to filmmakers on a platter.
Speaking on the vision behind AFRIFF, Ude said she established the festival to address gaps in storytelling and acting while creating opportunities for Nigerian and African filmmakers to reach international audiences.
She explained that one of her major goals was to make the world see African filmmakers and their work by bridging the gap between Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world.
The 2026 edition of the festival is themed Frames of the Future, which Ude said explores what the future of filmmaking could look like.
She explained that her initial thought about the future of filmmaking was artificial intelligence (AI), but an observation by the festival’s head programmer from Canada gave her another perspective.
According to Ude, the head programmer contacted her about five or six days before the interview after reviewing the films selected for the festival. He observed that about 85 per cent of the selected films were about women or had women as producers or directors.
Ude said the observation made her consider the growing role of women in shaping the future of filmmaking.
“For me, the frame of the future is women. It might be AI, but a lot of women,” she said.
When asked whether audiences should expect many films made by women filmmakers, she affirmed that the increasing presence of women was already reflected in the selected films.
Ude also disclosed that the festival would feature three films submitted by Nigeria for consideration at the Oscars. She expressed excitement about the films selected for the festival and encouraged audiences to look forward to watching them.
Beyond the film screenings, she said AFRIFF would continue to create opportunities for people to meet, interact and discover new things. She added that many people would be travelling to Nigeria for the festival.
On what had kept her going despite the demands of organising the event every year, Ude attributed her commitment to passion and faith.
She admitted that she sometimes questioned why she continued with the work but said her faith had helped her remain committed to the purpose behind the festival.
“Truly, you know it’s so cliché to say, ‘Oh, the passion,’ but it is. It can’t be anything else,” she said.
She added that for the past four to five years, her faith had continued to remind her of why she started the journey and why she needed to keep going.
