The 2025 FESPACO film festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, might have come and gone but memories of the film festival will continue to linger on in the memories of attendees including participants from Nigeria.
At the film festival, which had good attendance, save for the absence of France due to the diplomatic row with Burkina Faso, the memories of legendary Nigerian filmmaker and actor, Adeyemi Afolayan aka AdeLove came alive.
In attendance, representing the Nigerian contingents in their own individual capacities include filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, NFVCB ED Dr Shaibu Husseini, KAP Film and TV Academy director, Seun Soyinka; former commissioner, Ste ve Ayorinde; publisher QEDng, Olumide Iyanda; and KAP PR executive, Gbemisola Afolabi.
The biennial gathering of filmmakers, marketers and distributors lasted eight days, between February 22 to March 1, 2025, had creatives from different parts of the world networking, watching films and discussing the future of African film.
As expected, Dr Husseini of the NFVCB was very much present at many of the programmes and he offered valuable insights into filmmaking in Nigeria and Africa.
In the same vein Kunle Afolayan used the golden opportunity of the festival to reinforce his position as a trailblazer in African cinema as well as celebrate a priceless legacy inherited at birth and surpassed at will.
He delivered a masterclass on filmmaking and in three hours, he sold his KAP Group – comprising the film village and resort, television and film academy, motion pictures production and cinema – to an enthralled audience of cinéastes, policymakers and star-struck fans.
The KAP founder capped it all by celebrating the ingenuity and resilience of Nigerian filmmakers who make magic with little or no outside funding.
After his masterclass, Afolayan also screened one of his father’s hit classics, ‘Ija Ominira,’ and his newest feature, ‘Recall,’ at Cine Burkina in the FESPACO Classics section which tells the history of African cinema with restored 35mm films.
While ‘Ija Ominira,’ features Duro Ladipo, Oyin Adejobi, Kareem Adepoju, Ade Love, Jimoh Aliu and others, ‘Recall,’ a new psychological drama by the Golden Effects boss, features Sharon Ooja, Olurotimi Fakunle, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Bimbo Akintola, Tina Mba, Keppy Ekpeyong, Patience Ozokwo, Shan George, Muyiwa Ademola and Bolaji Ogunmola.
According to Iyanda, who wrote about his experience at the festival, “FESPACO 2025 showed that with unswerving commitment by the government, a film festival can bring people together irrespective of class and creed. It does not have to be an elitist shindig designed for the 1 percent of the 1 percent.”
