The S16 Film Festival Lab: Michael Omonua on the Film Lab and Nurturing a Development Culture in Nigerian Cinema

In 2016, the trio: Abba Makama, C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, and Michael Omonua formed the Surreal16 Collective, often stylized as S16 in Lagos, Nigeria. They were frustrated with the cinematic offerings of the Nigerian film industry and felt more could be done artistically, structurally and cinematically. This motivated the creation of Surreal 16 Collective, the S16 Film Festival in 2021 and now the beginning of the S16 Film Lab. 

The lab which will begin receiving applications from 5th March, 2026 is designed to instill the culture of script and idea development and workshop in Nigeria. For its first edition, four feature film projects will be accepted with the intent of guiding selected filmmakers through mentorship and developmental labs for a period of five months. 

The lab was announced during the closing ceremony of the 2025 edition of the S16 Film Festival and open to Nigerian-based filmmakers who are above 18, are writer-director, have the exclusive rights over their script and available for virtual and in-person sessions. Interested applicants are expected to submit complete visual treatment, with longline and synopsis. 

In a conversation with Culture Custodian, Omonua, one of the S16 trio speaks about the lab, its defining elements and what the selection committee will be looking for from applicants. 

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

​What does this lab mean for the S16 founders and its overarching interest in Nigerian indie and alternative cinema?

It’s hard to exactly say what it means until we have some time and context. But, the moment has importance because Nigeria, specifically, and its indie scene lacks development hubs from script to producers. And, as the Surreal 16 trio, it’s something we identified and felt important to initiate. There is a major which we are hoping to bridge for Nigerian filmmakers. It’s essentially a place for these Nigerian filmmakers to go to develop their ideas.

This sort of feeds into S 16 ideas of identifying an area in Nigerian film space that needs attention and providing filmmakers the opportunity and process of developing their ideas in a lab, access to funding and co-production opportunities. These are my thoughts about what this moment means and what we are trying to achieve. 

On an individual and industry-base level, what does the lab aim to create? A parallel to Nollywood or a “resistance” machine against the mainstream? What will be the defining elements and identity of the lab?

It’s not a lab designed for a typical Nigerian filmmaker and even the festival also doesn’t program the typical mainstream Nollywood films. The lab and the festival is designed, like other international festivals, to curate and search for filmmakers with unique voices. Thus, these are who the labs will focus on, not the mainstream voices.  

Also, it isn’t a resistance to mainstream Nollywood but a film lab designed to nurture projects that are in their early stage. It’s about development. This is a film culture that isn’t in Nollywood which we are trying to introduce. We are trying to show that it takes or at least it should take time to get a film made and that there is a process involved. During that development process, you want the filmmaker to get their project to the best place it should be. Thus, we aren’t really thinking about Nollywood but more about designing a development culture that should exist in an industry. 

For Nigerian filmmakers struggling with making their films, it will be an opportunity to learn and have time, place, people and space to workshop their ideas and projects. Labs are nurturing and learning places. Although we aren’t a big and international lab, the lab can offer a sort of visibility to filmmakers. Also, the lab can be a place to prepare filmmakers for other labs, either it’s a writing or producing lab. It’s a good opportunity for filmmakers who haven’t gone to a lab too to have that experience to develop their projects and ideas. 

Ultimately, what we are looking at is creating that kind of developmental space and culture for Nigerian filmmakers to develop their projects, develop their screenplays, think about their stories, potential audiences, festival strategies, producing, co-productions, creating decks and every important aspects of the filmmaking process they might not know about before. The film industry is a constant learning and extremely difficult process. The lab is just a space to grow and develop. 

​The lab is focused on script development. Nigerian and African filmmakers often struggle with funding/execution. Will the Lab be providing or exposing selected filmmakers to funding? Or what’s the thinking around ensuring projects are made? 

Individual projects are unique. There is a lack of good producers in Nigeria which I think is a major problem for the industry. This is also down to the understanding of the role of producing on a film set as being less sexy and attractive. Thus, it doesn’t attract the best people. I think writers, directors and filmmakers don’t often understand the role of a producer quite well so there’s a lack of expectation on the producers and how the industry operates compared to other international industries. 

It’s difficult discussing funding opportunities. As a lab, we will do our best to discuss where those opportunities are. Also, it’s our first year and like we started with the festival, we will get better and add more ideas as we progress. This is like driving across a newly-built bridge and working out other important details along that journey. There’s no doubt that the funding and production opportunities are a huge problem in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, it will be a huge part of our lab and curriculum. We will be inviting some of the best producers like Oge Obasi, Funmi Ogunbanwo and others to nurture filmmakers. 

Although the lab is focused on script development, that’s not the whole of the lab curriculum. We will be ideating on funding opportunities and scripting, a major issue in Nigeria and other issues. We will also be thinking about how these identified issues can be solved. 

C.J. Obasi giving the closing remarks on Sunday, the final day of the S16 Film Festival 2023.

For the lab, what element(s) or detail(s) is the team looking for in a Lab applicant? Is it technical proficiency, or are you purely artistic sensibility?

We are looking for unique voices, filmmakers ready to and have made some shorts and ready to begin the journey of making a feature film. This isn’t the defining criteria as the lab is open to anyone. We will be reading all the applications and discussing individual projects and filmmakers to ascertain if they need the lab or not. Every fillmaker, project and situations are so unique that we don’t necessarily have a one-size-fit-all selection criteria. We will be discussing the individual needs of every submitted project and filmmakers and accessing if they will be needing the lab or not. 

Overall, it’s for filmmakers who have interesting projects and are at the stage where they need a lab. The projects, treatments, decks and all have to be well thought out and great. Nigerian filmmakers should see it as a preparation of sorts for bigger labs. We are looking forward to seeing what projects are selected and what this selection process will teach us. 

​Lastly, in five years, what do you want a ‘S16 Lab Film’ to be known for locally and globally and how will the team define “success”? 

It’s hard to answer this question. For me, it’s about the lab being useful to filmmakers and learning from it. It isn’t necessarily about any other awarding metric. Of course, we want filmmakers to make their films. But, more importantly, it’s a place for filmmakers to learn and benefit from. For me, that will make it a huge success especially at this early stage. We can grow and learn from mistakes and conversations around the lab. 

It might be too early to define what the lab will become. It might be a launching pad for other bigger international labs. But, this is our first year and it might be hard to say. What I will really hope for is this lab to be a space for African films and filmmakers to shape and develop their ideas with lab organisers who understand and contextualise the uniqueness of their stories and industries. 

Personally, attending the Realness lab in South Africa makes it important to prioritize the importance of hoping the S16 Film Lab has national and continental significance. At the lab, everyone intimately understands each other with less cultural explanations. So, on one hand, we can be a launching place for other labs and on the other a lab for national and continental filmmakers. Importantly, we want to be a lab where African stories get developed. This year is targeted at Nigerian filmmakers while subsequent years might focus on continental filmmakers.