Adaptation study
The Blue Lantern Republic
By Nkechi Okorie
A luminous novel of language, exile, and cities that asks what changes when memory moves from page to screen.
Lagos + global livestream / November 2026
AAIFF - African Stories, Global Conversations
AAIFF is a Nigerian-rooted platform for African stories that move across borders geographically, culturally, emotionally, and politically.
Festival Updates
Follow what’s coming next—screenings, labs, and community sessions—without needing daily event tracking.
View eventsPrograms & Labs
Explore Acting, Writing, Sound, Transnational Cinema, and our Men/Women in Arts initiatives.
Explore programsBook Club
Read, discuss, and connect stories across page and screen through our book club sessions.
See readingNovember 2026 submissions open for Nigerian-led independent African and diaspora cinemaRebecca Isi Imafidon represented Nigeria's media at Women Deliver 2026 in MelbourneAAIFF labs develop adaptation, cross-cultural storytelling, and ethical collaborationSelected films travel into schools, libraries, cultural institutions, and Nigerian diaspora spacesNovember 2026 submissions open for Nigerian-led independent African and diaspora cinemaRebecca Isi Imafidon represented Nigeria's media at Women Deliver 2026 in MelbourneAAIFF labs develop adaptation, cross-cultural storytelling, and ethical collaborationSelected films travel into schools, libraries, cultural institutions, and Nigerian diaspora spaces
AAIFF Annual Festival
November, 2026
Two days of screenings, labs, conversations, and community. Join us in Lagos or via global livestream.
November, 2026Lagos + Global LivestreamPasses available soon
Featured films
Nigerian-led cinema shaped by movement.
Stories of migration, identity, memory, language, faith, and belonging from Nigerian filmmakers working between worlds.
Festival Programs
Labs, screenings, salons, and conversations rooted in African stories.
Explore AAIFF
More ways to engage with African storytelling.
Rooted here. Reaching everywhere.
Nigerian-led independent cinema
Films rooted in Nigerian realities, connected to African, diaspora, and cross-border collaboration.
Reading across borders
Nigerian, African, and diasporic texts that travel from page to screen, stage, classroom, and community.
Labs and development
Support for adaptation, diaspora narratives, cross-cultural storytelling, and ethical collaboration.
Culture, policy, and advocacy
Storytelling that challenges harmful norms, opens funding conversations, and connects local realities to global leaders.
Culture in practice
Platforms for care, responsibility, authorship, and exchange.
Women in Arts & Film
Women creating across cultures through care, community, healing, social impact, gender equality, funding access, and diaspora perspectives.
Men in Arts & Film
Conversations on masculinity shaped by migration, tradition, faith, grief, responsibility, and cross-cultural pressure.
Stories and thinking
Essays, interviews, and reflections on authorship, ethics, technology-facilitated harm, and the future of film.
"You all are doing amazing work so far. I got to know about AAIFF last year, I produced Iwa Ji, it screened last year and I can tell you, there are some festivals that are not even as organized or impactful as you guys."
"I attended AAAIF for the first time in November 2025, where I was a facilitator in the directing masterclass. For me, AAIFF is a fantastic initiative for filmmakers. It provides a platform where independent creatives can come together, share their work, network with like-minded people, and learn from one another. Opportunities like this are important because they help build community, inspire collaboration, and give emerging voices a chance to be seen and heard."
"Having attended the event, Arts as Healing, I got reintroduced to the healing power we get from art. It re-inspired me to get back into writing. It's the expression of our hearts into something tangible that others can enjoy. Like, I get healing painting a portrait of a still lake, calming my troubled mind; or writing a poem, completely letting out my feelings into the lexical domain, giving me relief."
Partners
A cultural coalition, not a logo wall.
We collaborate with cultural institutes, film bodies, funders, educational partners, and social‑impact organisations who share our vision for authentic storytelling.
Nile CinemasNG Eagle234 ProjectLagos State Film & Video Censors Board (LSFVCB)Alliance FrançaisePicture Lock NGAnanse AfricaNinthgridGDeliteAmal OutreachBrixton Film Festival/RepDat TV
Partnerships and exchange
Embassies, cultural institutes, global film organisations, gender equity funders, education, tech, and social-impact partners.
Education and impact
Selected films travel into schools, universities, libraries, cultural institutions, and diaspora spaces.
Awards and visibility
Audience, jury, student, documentary, animation, social impact, and literary adaptation prizes.