The Accelerate Filmmaker Project: A Casual Glimpse into Nollywood’s Future

The Accelerate Filmmaker Project and Access Bank funded films of 2024 had their first public screening at the 2024 edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF). This was followed by another ticketed screening, organized by Accelerate TV months after. Recently, the films made by first-time young filmmakers were uploaded to Accelerate TV’s YouTube channel for public consumption. The seven Accelerate TV films include Samuel Ajirebi’s Egbeji, Ashimedua Odiachi’s Mofe, Loveth Ogbene’s The Boy from the Window, Tega Obahor’s Nightmare, Rotipin Tobiloba’s Purgatory, Iyke Osoka’s Mi Yi Dima and Kolade Mann’s Ovisa. In their individual and collective strength, these films made by first-time young Nigerian filmmakers trained under the Accelerate Filmmaker Project, a two-week-long educational and developmental training, provides a casual glimpse into the Nigerian film industry future. 

Ideated and programmed for young and budding filmmakers, the Accelerate Filmmaker Project is the studio’s attempt at giving back to the Nigerian creative economy. A way of scouting, training and funding the next generation Nigerian filmmakers. In an industry built by the individual efforts of  self-trained filmmakers, the project is a coordinated and institutional effort of guiding the craft and storytelling identity of a younger generation curious and passionate about filmmaking. Akin to Multichoice Factory’s year-long fully-funded project and EbonyLife Creative Academy training, the Accelerate Filmmaker Project is one of the few institutional programs curated and focused on drilling the importance of training, guidance and mentorship, however temporary, into the shaky foundation of the Nigerian film industry.  And watching the seven films during the NIFS  provided a front-row seat into the importance of mentorship and a structured environment for the continuous training of young Nigerian filmmakers.

What’s worth noting about the films is the distinct voice, style and story interest of the filmmakers. The films range from a careful exploration of childhood abuse, psychological trauma, cultural identity, reenactment of historical happening to a contemplative and stylized meditation on religion and illusion of dream and reality. Funded by Access Bank, the projects aren’t distilled into a single and monolithic story identity and setting prevalent in Nollywood filmmaking. Osoka’s Mi Yi Dima and Ajirebi’s Egbeji  are situated outside Lagos and explore  surface-level Fulani and Yoruba cultural practices and identity.  Osoka’s Mi Yi Dima couches stereotypical gaze into its storytelling subtly reinforcing that Northern Nigerians have no grasp of the English language.  Although when the film ends, what the filmmaker thought about the Sharo festival isn’t visible. Ditto Ajirebi’s Egbeji that circles around the need for cautious statements in a house filled with Afose (loosely interpreted as speak and come to pass) charm. Rotipin’s Purgatory, Obahor’s Nightmare and Ogbene’s The Boy from the Window brood on the psychological effect of living in fright of one’s demons, childhood abuse and the illusion of a perfect family. That the directors who sometimes tripled as writers, producers, lead actors and production designers made them carry a distinctively indie filmmaking identity. 

Despite most of its alluring synopsis, the films, except Obahor’s Nightmare, Rotipin’s Purgatory and Ogbene’s The Boy from the Window, weren’t forthcoming in passing a convincing message even when narratively framed to do just that. Osoka’s Mi Yi Dima is supposed to be an outsider’s perspective on the Sharo festival. That perspective is missing and drowned in stereotypical and unclear dialogues and conversations. What insights viewers are supposed to leave with in Odiachi’s Mofe isn’t certain. An argument against greed is supposedly presented in the film. But, besides being lazy and unmotivated to work, nothing in the lead character’s identity screams greediness. 

Cinema is an avenue for entertainment and mental relaxation and in its highest state, it provides emotional pleasure, mental and bodily relaxation to the stressed and tensed mind. Also, the history of Nigerian, African and world cinema shows that intellectual stimulation are markers of great films. Tunde Kelani’s Saworoide, Tunde Ogidan’s Owo Blow, Chuko and Arie Esiri’s Eyimofe, Ousmane Sembene’s Black Girl, Souleymane Cisse’s Yeelen, Ash Ya Farhadi’s A Separation Story and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite aren’t just a beautiful assemblage of well-framed pictures and well-toned performances. They’re united in their filmmakers’ ability to inspire thoughts and deep cultural, political and historical conversations with oneself. With this understanding, these Accelerate Filmmaker Project films attempt to entertain and motivate intellectual thoughts. But, they mostly stumble in this humble attempt. 

Written in 1992,  by Owen Wilson and directed by Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket marks the directorial debut of  Anderson. The crime comedy features Owen, Andrew and Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave, Lumi Cavazos, and James Caan. The short film was developed into a feature film in 1996 after it was discovered by Polly Platt who introduced it to James L. Brooks who provided the necessary funding and backing to develop the film into a feature-length film. The storytelling elements in the original Bottle Rocket — naive and immature crime enthusiasts, gritty camera exploration of the city and the finding of personal identity, made it possible and conceivable to develop a feature film. Michael Omonua’s Rehearsal has received critical acclaim at both local and international film festivals. Omonua has mentioned working on Galatians, a feature-length version of the film. The cultural, political and religious questions it’s exploring justify the need for an extended interrogation of the character and the illusion of staged miracles especially in the deeply religious Nigerian society. These individual stories show that “some short films exist solely as a premise, others play like a dry run for a feature and others are just well constructed examples of the form.”

In the case of the Accelerate Filmmaker Project films, Obahor’s Nightmare, Rotipin’s Purgatory and Ogbene’s The Boy from the Window, despite  minor narrative flaws, represent  well-made examples of short films. The others fall into these other categories and are unconvincing of the need to exist as an extended feature-length film. There are no significant characters, worldbuilding, As most of the filmmakers mentioned during their short-lived and unmemorable conversation at NIFS moderated by Jite Ovueraye Ovueraye, Head, Accelerate Agency, they had to shrink their feature-length story ideas into  short films to accommodate budget and other constraints. Thus, the films have  a dual function: a willing pitch deck for filmmakers willing to make their feature and, importantly, a test of their artistic ability to adapt to external constraints. After watching the films, there would have been  no justification for extending most of them. As stand-alone short films, they do  less to interest one. There are no convincing backstories, characters and worldbuilding worth exploring. Nor are there cultural, humanist, political and social arguments worth exploring further. 

By 2026, the Accelerate Filmmaker Project will be organizing its sixth edition. In its five years of existence, the program has yearly backed the ideas of seven young Nigerian filmmakers to life. Despite the limitations of its two-week training on storytelling and filmmaking, the project is an institutional approach against Nollywood’s do-it-yourself film education practices.