Davido among panellists as Burna Boy’s co-produced film screens at AFRIFF 2025

The 14th Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) willkick off with the screening of ‘3 Cold Dishes,’ a pan-African thrillerco-produced by Afrofusion star Burna Boy and actress Osas Ighodaro. The festival’s lineup and its 2025 theme, ‘Rhythms of theContinent: The Afrobeats Film Movement,’ were unveiled at a Lagos event onThursday. Scheduled to run from November 2, the festival willcelebrate the powerful synergy between music and cinema. “It is really about music. We want to showcase the effectand the importance of music in film. And most importantly, our music in film.If we are making African films, we also need to understand why music should alsobe African and the effect of it,” said Chioma Ude, founder of AFRIFF. “We are pulling in all our music partners, all ourmusicians, music executives to guide us, encourage us and to learn. We are hereto say this is how you are important to films.” The opening film ‘3 Cold Dishes’ was shot across severalAfrican, European, and Arabian nations. Director Asurf Oluseyi revealed thatthe film tells the story of trafficked girls on a mission for revenge againsttheir abductors. “‘3 Cold Dishes’ is a Pan African film. A co-productionbetween Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, the Ivory Coast, France, theNetherlands, and Saudi Arabia,” Asurf said. “It is shining on stories of survival within Africa. Most ofthe stories we have talk about Africans to Europeans. 90% of traffickinghappens within Africa. This is an important story to us. “Burna and I have a working relationship. It was very easyto work with him. He trusted my work.” The festival will offer practical industry insights,including a workshop on November 3 at the Twin Towers in Lekki. The session, headlined by Moses Babatope of The Nile Groupand EbonyLife’s head of legal Omotayo Queen Inakoju will cover revenuemaximisation and understanding distribution agreements. Music star Davido hasalso been announced as a panellist for the event. A significant new feature for the 14th edition is theintroduction of the AFRIFF Film & Content Market (AFCM). Ude described it as a crucial step for industrysustainability, providing a platform for creators to network with marketers,exhibitors, and financiers. Partners expected at the summit include SOOP, aKorean content creation company, and the World Bank. The festival will honour several distinguished figures,including vice president Kasim Shettima; Enugu governor Peter Mbah; US actorDavid Oyelowo; and Hakeem Muri-Okunola. AFRIFF 2025 will conclude with two final screenings: adocumentary by highlife singer Flavour N’abania titled ‘Afroculture: TheMaking,’ and ‘Tukki from Roots to Bayou,’ a film by Vincent Le Gal and AluneWade.

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