Searching for a tech-centred movie that passes all the vibe checks? Then, this movie will definitely be worth your time. Think of a movie halfway between the highly celebrated ‘Far From Home’ miniseries and what an idealistic film version of Altschool Africa might look like, and you have Makemation.
Created and produced by Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, renowned AI/Ed Tech expert and global policy leader, and directed by award winning filmmaker, Michael ‘Ama Psalmist’ Akinrogunde, Makemation is a brilliant, fast-paced movie that intricately weaves the themes of STEM education, digital skills and financial literacy, gender equality and inclusivity, and AI-driven healthcare solutions into a cinematic masterpiece designed to keep you at the edge of your seats.
Having made history as Africa’s first AI themed feature film, Makemation boasts a star-studded cast including; Richard Mofe-Damijo, Shaffy Bello (who also act as co-producers); and young stars – Tomi Ojo and Chimezie Imo; cameos by prominent tech industry experts – Iyin Aboyeji, Olumide Soyombo and Uche Pedro, among others.
It is an ambitious project put together by creatives in their 20s and 30s to examine how young people leverage technology for problem solving, while providing exposure to the unquantifiable benefits of a functional tech ecosystem and at the same time sparking critical conversations not limited to tech sustainability but also centered around feminism, healthcare and education.
The film has had international screenings at the 2024 Global AI Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a private stakeholders’ viewing at the Kenya Innovation Week 2024, and an exclusive screening at the residence of the U.S. Consul General in Lagos, all leading up to the Global Inclusivity and AI Africa Conference where Nigeria is set to take the lead on discussions surrounding AI and digital transformation.
Following this, Nigerian audiences experienced the movie’s full cinema debut on April 18, 2025, and then it expanded to cinemas across Africa, the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East subsequently.
How far would you go to pursue your dreams?
This is the premise of Makemation, a coming-of-age story of a young girl (Zara) with a passion for STEM born to lower class Nigerian parents living in less-than-ideal circumstances. She encounters societal barriers typical of such a background on her pathway to educational and financial emancipation.
With a youth population constituting about two-third of Nigeria’s over 200 million population, the film highlights the common experience of many young people in developing countries such as ours and the struggle they undergo to obtain the right resources and support to launch them into the careers they are passionate about. The movie also highlights how systemic challenges – epileptic power, poor access to essential amenities (school, healthcare facilities, good housing) and poor remuneration for skilled workers, creates crippling encumbrances for constant value creation and national excellence.
Although majorly tech themed, Makemation is rich in subthemes; it begins with a brief, but worthy expose on the way illiteracy perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes such as the emphasis on male education with little regard for their female counterparts, and the assumption of regressive traditional roles typically assigned to women. The resultant effect is the proliferation of more problems including wide gender disparities in employment and retention, unequal pay gaps and a lack of corporate empathy for the unique experiences that working class women collectively go through.
This disparity —although present across ‘heavily male dominated’ industries— is seen more in the tech sector. A recent report highlighted that data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics showed that women make up only 20 per cent of the tech workforce in the country. The film juxtaposes this depressing reality though by the use of a strong female lead and a positive gender balance in its cast and crew.
Makemation gives a tantalising view of the ever-broadening world of tech and its numerous disciplines, forcing us to ask an already widely deliberated question — “what is the viability of artificial intelligence in a country such as ours, especially in the face of a profound lack of solutions to seemingly basic technological problems?”
In a similar vein, the film answers this question of how mixed reality solutions can cater to real life problems, by showcasing an array of ideas in some scenes, exemplifying how artificial intelligence can be applied across all sectors for problem solving. From this we can deduce that technology, and by extension artificial intelligence, are vital tools for building stronger and efficient societies in today’s world. It further shows that a failure to ride on the wave of the 4th industrial revolution and build towards a future powered by artificial intelligence is highly detrimental to national and continental development.
