Kachi Benson is All About Making Impact With His Documentaries

On February 27, 2026, Nigerian documentary filmmaker Kachi Benson will release his latest film, Mothers of Chibok, in cinemas across the country, an uncommon move within Nollywood, where theatrical releases are typically dominated by fiction and comedy-driven titles. Benson, Nigeria’s first Emmy Award winner, is bringing a feature-length documentary to the big screen at a scale rarely attempted in the local industry.

Mothers of Chibok focuses on the mothers of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in 2014. The documentary examines grief, resilience, and most importantly, hope, foregrounding the women’s lived experiences rather than revisiting the incident solely through its political or media dimensions. The film follows Benson’s earlier project, Daughters of Chibok (2019), a virtual reality documentary that won Best Virtual Reality Story at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. Mothers of Chibok has since received the Encounters Al Jazeera Award for Best African Feature Documentary and recently screened at FIPADOC in France, one of the world’s leading documentary festivals.

In this interview with Culture Custodian, Benson discusses the timing of the project, his decision to pursue a theatrical release, and his expectations for how Nigerian cinema audiences will engage with the film.

Twelve years after the Chibok kidnapping, what compelled you to tell this story now?

Well, you know, it’s a story that sort of explores what happens after the headlines and the cameras stop rolling. I mean, when this happened 12 years ago, it was the biggest news across the world. Everybody was talking about it, but the world has since moved on to other things. But with the mothers of these girls, they can’t move on in that sense. But they also have to move on, to keep living. And so after the headlines and after the cameras, how do you take your life forward?

And so it was really a case of exploring what that looks like for these women and how they continue to pursue their life and their dreams and the dreams of their children with dignity and resolve, in spite of this looming threat of terror that constantly hovers around their lives. 

The mothers of the Chibok girls have lived with unimaginable trauma for over a decade. What was the process like, gaining their trust and getting them to share their stories? 

I started working with them in 2018 when I made my first film, Daughters of Chibok. My films are not really an end in themselves. More like a means to an end. So, there’s always some impact. I’m always asking myself, how can this film have a life beyond the screen? How can it make an impact and move people from empathy to action?

And so when we did Daughters of Chibok in 2018, after it won the awards and did very well, we were able to come back in 2019 to now begin to actively support the women and work with them. I think that opened their hearts and they knew we really cared about them. So by the time I went back in 2021 to start working on this new film, it was much easier, but it wasn’t easy in the beginning to gain their trust. We had to spend a lot of time earning their trust.

But even while we’re making Mothers of Chibok, we also spent quite a bit of time, it took us three years to make the film. And in that time, you really get to learn more about the people and. And really blend with the community to the point where they’re able to say, okay, this person is not a stranger, but one of us. 

You’ve chosen a theatrical release for Mothers of Chibok in a market where even commercial films struggle with distribution. Walk us through that decision, what made you believe cinema was the right platform for this documentary despite the challenges?

Mothers of Chibok is a creative documentary, and it’s a story I deeply believe in. I also believe there’s an audience for every genre, you just have to be intentional and strategic about how you position the work and who you’re targeting.

I’ve been fortunate to work with producers who truly believe in the film and in me. They share the conviction that this is a story that should be accessible to anyone who wants to see it, particularly in Nigeria, because it is first and foremost a Nigerian story.

In many ways, this is an exploration, you don’t really know what’s possible until you try. It’s easy to assume people don’t care about documentaries or that they don’t belong in cinemas, but until you put the film there, you can’t be certain. I have faith in the work and in the audience. The release will be limited and in select cinemas, but someone has to take the step and see what happens. I believe it’s a story worth telling, and one worth sharing on the big screen.

Documentary films, especially hard-hitting social issue documentaries, rarely get wide theatrical distribution in Nigeria. What’s your distribution strategy? How many screens are you targeting, and how long do you plan to keep it in cinemas?

We’re set for a cinema release on February 27. It will be a limited theatrical run of about four weeks, after which the film will move to digital platforms. Once we’ve confirmed the cinemas and locations, our focus will be on clearly amplifying that information so audiences know where and how to watch the film.

Beyond logistics, I think Mothers of Chibok really benefits from communal viewing. In Nigeria, we’re used to having cinematic experiences for almost every kind of film, except documentaries. This release is partly about shifting that perception and allowing people to experience a documentary on the big screen, together.

I make documentaries because I love the form, and my films have screened theatrically in different parts of the world. There’s no reason they shouldn’t also be experienced that way in Nigeria. I’m especially interested in seeing how audiences respond when they watch a documentary collectively in a cinema space, and how that shared experience shapes engagement with the film.

Nigerian audiences often gravitate toward escapist entertainment rather than difficult subject matter. How are you marketing this film to get people into cinemas, and what’s your message to Nigerians about why they should buy a ticket to watch this story?

This is an impact film, and when you’re making that kind of work, the primary focus is the impact. For me, that starts with getting as many people as possible to see the film and to participate in the conversation it sparks. The threat to education in Nigeria isn’t limited to Chibok. In recent months alone, we’ve seen reports of children being kidnapped in places like Niger State and Kaduna. There’s a broader, ongoing threat to our children’s right to education.

When audiences watch Mothers of Chibok, they see women who are fighting relentlessly to educate their children despite the threat of insurgency. In many ways, that struggle becomes an act of resistance—a refusal to give in to terror, and a declaration that good can still prevail over evil.

Bringing the film into cinemas and making it accessible is a key part of the impact strategy. The communal viewing experience allows people to sit together, reflect together, and talk. It’s often in those shared spaces that the most meaningful conversations happen.

Given your international recognition and access to global streaming platforms, what would a successful Nigerian cinema run look like for you? Are you measuring success differently for this project?

For me, a successful cinema run simply means people choosing to come in and watch the film. I don’t expect mass appeal, but I do believe the right audience will show up. This film is for viewers who care about Nigeria and are curious about social issues, people interested in conversations around women, education, justice, equity, and empowerment. For that audience, I believe there’s real value in seeing this story on the big screen.

Success, for me, would be audiences leaving the cinema feeling that their perception has shifted, that they’ve learned something new, or that they feel moved to engage more deeply with the issues the film raises. If the film can inform, challenge, and inspire that response, then the cinema run has done its job. 

Looking at the bigger picture of your career, from your Emmy win to this moment, where does Mothers of Chibok fit in your mission as a filmmaker? What does success for this project mean for the future of serious documentary filmmaking in Nigeria?

I’ve always believed that stories shape how we see the world, and Mothers of Chibok was made to reframe a familiar tragedy by centering the humanity of these women, not reducing them to statistics. It reflects my larger mission as a filmmaker: to shift perception and tell Nigerian stories with dignity, through our own lens.

The response at FIPADOC in France reinforced that purpose. Audiences connected deeply with the film, and many noted how important it was that the story was told by a Nigerian, bringing a level of care and dignity that a Western gaze often cannot. For me, success means two things. First, making documentaries that are creatively strong and can stand alongside the best from anywhere in the world. Second, helping build an ecosystem in Nigeria where serious documentaries can be seen, supported, and valued. While escapist entertainment dominates, there is still an audience for well-made nonfiction. It won’t be easy, but if we keep pushing the form and expanding access, documentary filmmaking in Nigeria has a real future.