The Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria has screened five award-winning Nigerian short films, renewing calls for stronger cultural exchanges and a structured partnership between Nigeria and South Korea to support the creative industry.

The screening, which celebrated winners of a short film competition organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Film Festival Association and the Kaduna International Film Festival, provided a platform for emerging filmmakers to showcase their work and receive feedback from audiences and critics.

Jenifer Ezeonyeasi, Cultural Events and Communications Officer at the Korean Cultural Centre, said the competition was conceived to encourage Nigerian filmmakers to develop their craft while exploring Korean culture through storytelling.

She explained that the initiative followed discussions with Nigerian filmmakers during previous screenings and workshops, where participants called for deeper collaboration between the two countries’ film industries.

“We are a cultural centre, and when it comes to culture, there is creativity and storytelling. Storytelling drives culture,” Ezeonyeasi said.

She added that the competition was designed to give young filmmakers opportunities to grow, noting that the winner’s entry marked her debut as a director.

According to her, participants were encouraged to incorporate at least five seconds of Korean culture into their films, while creativity and cinematography carried greater weight in the judging process.

Audu Kashim Israel, director of the Kaduna International Film Festival, said the initiative could help Nigerian films reach Korean audiences while creating opportunities for Korean productions to find viewers in Nigeria.

He called for closer cooperation between the Nigerian government and the Korean Cultural Centre, including a possible memorandum of understanding to strengthen cultural relations.

However, he stressed that agreements must translate into practical benefits for practitioners, arguing that Nigeria’s creative industry needed stronger institutional structures.

“The practitioners will say, ‘We are doing a lot. We have the talent, but there is no structure for the industry.’ And who needs to bring this structure? The government,” Israel said.

He urged the government to work more closely with filmmakers and other creative professionals across Nigeria to develop policies that address the industry’s needs.

Jude Francis Terkuma, who came second in the competition, said his film drew inspiration from a personal experience involving friendship and unexpressed romantic feelings.

He explained that filmmaking allowed him to reimagine the experience, changing the outcome of the story to explore an alternative possibility.

Terkuma thanked the Korean Cultural Centre for providing a platform for emerging filmmakers and encouraged others to continue developing their work.

An attendee, Margret Musa, also commended the films screened and urged the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy to explore similar collaborations that could create more opportunities for Nigerian filmmakers.

The screening formed part of broader efforts to deepen cultural exchanges between Nigeria and South Korea, whose creative industries have attracted growing international audiences through film, music and television.