TIFF 2026: Kaelo Iyizoba’s Homage to Old Nollywood is Spectacular

Seven years ago, Kaelo Iyizoba revealed, in fragments, the kind of filmmaker he wants to be. In 2021, Iyizoba released Boy Meets Girl, an unusual title for the story it tells. The eight-minute short film follows an ordinary day in 15-year-old Musa (Gabriel Dung)’s life. After a pantomime with Girl (Aaliyah Atazamu), who he discovers is a suicide bomber, the trajectory of his day, and possibly his life, changed. With Girl as a central character, Boy Meets Girl reads as an artistic response to the kidnapping of the Chibok Girls. Boko Haram was depositing violence and trauma in Nigerian homes, and rather than stuffing his film with gory images and trauma-inducing dialogues, Iyizoba chose silence and simplicity to capture this. 

In 2026, collaborating with Zikoko, he directed Before We Fall Asleep, another short film whose title hides the heaviness of its subject matter. Reminiscent of Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Richard Linklater’s The Before Trilogy, central to the film is the question of care and household labour. Again, rather than opt for a grand display of emotions and punch-throwing dialogues, Iyizoba settles on stillness. From Boy Meets Girl, Before We Fall Asleep, and The Spectacular Death of Prisca, which screened in the Short Cuts Programme of the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, Iyizoba trades in simplicity. 

The Spectacular Death of Prisca opens with Prisca (Rita Dominic) gorgeously dressed for a party. Rather than fidget, she settles into a couch to watch Michael Ezeanyaeche’s Abuja Connection. Moments later, Aunty Bimpe (Fae Olumide) introduces herself to the room brimming with sedated anger. Prisca gets forced outside, where Chimdi (Genoveva Umeh), her daughter, is preparing to marry Lanre (Shamz Garuba). The photographer has refused to arrive, and Yetunde (Amaka Ukuta), one of Chimdi’s friends, suggests she takes drugs to calm her nerves. This harmless suggestion transports the film into one of the many Old Nollywood films and world Prisca has likely spent decades watching. In this psychedelic-induced world, she’s Madam P, the leader of an all-girl group who must rescue Princess (Umeh) from the notorious Kingpin (Garuba). The world is populated with bright colours, flamboyant costumes, and melodramatic performances reminiscent of Old Nollywood films and performances. 

An homage to Old Nollywood, the film still carries Iyizoba’s preference for capturing ordinary Nigerians living ordinary lives. The difference here is that in the drug-induced world, Madam Prisca and her girls are shooting and planning a rescue. But despite straying from Iyizoba’s signature storytelling tempo, the film still finds space for silence and introspection. The characters aren’t just aimlessly throwing bullets and giving over-the-top performances, they’re ready to be still and listen to their thoughts. It isn’t all glamour and flamboyance, there’s stillness when Prisca enters this alternate world, when she meets Princess and Kingpin, and when she confronts Jennifer, her rival. Thus, even when Kaelo’s film pays homage to Old Nollywood, he doesn’t allow its domineering identity to override his filmmaking style and temperament. 

For a film hinged on Old Nollywood, a summarized Old Nollywood film history and visual references is needed to fully understand and appreciate the costuming, beautiful colors, plot, and overtly-dramatized performances. The film tries to provide this lesson with the showing of  Ezeanyaeche’s Abuja Connection but for non-Nigerian and non-Old-Nollywood viewers, the lesson isn’t effective. The scene can best be described as a character-defining one for Prisca, not a visual history of Old Nollywood. But, for audience members familiar with Old Nollywood, the scene performs a dual function: it tells us that Prisca is a cinephile of some sort and that this film is an homage to Old Nollywood. However, despite the absence of a summarized history of Old Nollywood titles, the film is enjoyable as a story of a woman making choices unmindful of her mother’s opinion.