AFRIFF Crowns "Slum Bomber" Best Feature in Lagos
Fifteen editions in, the Lagos festival opened with Olive Nwosu's "LADY" and closed by handing her its directing prize.
AFRIFF's Globe Awards in Lagos named "Slum Bomber" best feature and Olive Nwosu best director on November 7.
The fifteenth Africa International Film Festival closed in Lagos on November 7 with its Globe Awards, naming "Slum Bomber" its best feature film. [AFRIFF 2026: Highlights, Winners, Stars, Red Carpet Moments from AFRIFF 15 (Naija Daily News, November 2026)]
AFRIFF 15 ran November 1 to 7 under the theme "Frames of the Future: Africa's Creative Intelligence." At the Globe Awards in Lagos, Maureen Jolly Nankya's "Slum Bomber" won Best Feature Film and Olive Nwosu won Best Director for "LADY," the festival's opening film. [AFRIFF 2026: Highlights, Winners, Stars, Red Carpet Moments from AFRIFF 15 (Naija Daily News, November 2026)]
The acting prizes split across the continent's industries: Sarah Karei won Best Female Actor for "One Woman, One Bra," directed by Vincho Nchogu, and Stevenson Jean won Best Male Actor for "The Tropic Sun and His Eyes," which also took Best International Feature and Best Screenplay for its director, Elisee Junior St Preux. The Audience Choice Award went to Orobosa Ikponmwen's "Adanne," and "Variations on a Theme," by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, received the Special Jury Prize. [AFRIFF 2026: Highlights, Winners, Stars, Red Carpet Moments from AFRIFF 15 (Naija Daily News, November 2026)]
The festival's own summary of itself was 'fifteen editions, one family,' and the program leaned into the anniversary: seven days of screenings, masterclasses and industry sessions under a theme about African creative intelligence, opening with the film that would close the week as its directing winner. Festivals like to discover a film over their run. AFRIFF bookended its fifteenth edition with the same one. [AFRIFF 2026: Highlights, Winners, Stars, Red Carpet Moments from AFRIFF 15 (Naija Daily News, November 2026)]
The craft categories filled out the picture of an industry widening its base: Kaelo Iyizoba's "The Spectacular Death of Prisca" won Best Short Film and Amanda Sans Pantling's "Miss Jobson" won Best Documentary. Lagos has spent years arguing it is African cinema's commercial capital. A fifteen-year-old festival handing its top prize to a Ugandan director's feature is the argument made in programming rather than in speeches. [AFRIFF 2026: Highlights, Winners, Stars, Red Carpet Moments from AFRIFF 15 (Naija Daily News, November 2026)]
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