The maiden edition of Africa International Christian Film Festival (AICFF 2026) has concluded in Abuja with organisers tasking creatives to reclaim story telling through excellence, identity and kingdom influence.
The four-day impactful film screenings, masterclasses panel discussions, networking and strategic industry conversations held between June 3 and 6 at Silverbird Cinemas.
Convened under the theme, ‘God’s Creative Army’, the festival brought together filmmakers, actors, producers, church leaders, distributors, creatives, media practitioners and Christian storytellers from across Africa and beyond in what many participants described as a defining moment for faith-based storytelling on the continent.
In his opening remarks, the convener and festival director, AICFF, Mr Bright Wonder Obasi, charged Christian creatives to embrace both spiritual consecration and creative excellence in their storytelling assignments.
He insisted that Christian creatives must boldly reclaim their identity while pursuing excellence as a spiritual responsibility and industry necessity.
Describing the festival as the gateway for faith-based films into Africa, and the launchpad for continental faith films to reach the world, Obasi further described it as a continental platform for the advancement of values-driven storytelling through film, media, training, collaboration and distribution.
At the event were globally recognized faith-film leaders, including Alex and Stephen Kendrick (The Kendrick Brothers); President, International Christian Visual Media (ICVM), Paul Sirmons; Founder, Christian Worldview Film Festival (CWVFF), Phillip Telpher as well as President, Content Media Conference, Tim Shields.
There were also Mike Bamiloye, whose Keynote Address was titled, ‘Identity and Kingdom Storytelling’; Regional Director, Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), Dr Felix Oisamoje, who spoke on ‘God’s Creative Army’ as well as Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer, A House of Faith, Kunle Falodun, represented by Teniola Zara King. His presentation was titled, ‘The State of Faith-Based Filmmaking in Africa’.
Panel discussions deliberated on various topics including, Story VS Sermon: Making Faith-Based Films That Truly Connect; How Films Get Bought: Inside the Mind of Distributors; Beyond Passion: The Business of Generating Revenue from Faith Films and Africa to the World: Building A Global Pipeline for African Faith-Based Films.
Some of the Guest Speakers include Moses Babatope, Chris Odeh, Joshua Carpenter, Rex Nwakamma and Bright Wonder Obasi while the final day of the festival focused on collaboration, sustainability and the future of kingdom storytelling in Africa.
Six selected short screenplay finalists pitched their stories before industry stakeholders at the end of which Tomisin Faoye, who emerged winner received a cash prize of N250,000.
Another major highlight during the festival was the unveiling of six finalists selected from the Africa Gospel Film Project (AGFP) to begin a mentorship track with Kingdom Story Company, makers of Unsung Hero, Jesus Revolution and I can Only Imagine.
The festival culminated in the AICFF Awards 2026, celebrating excellence across 12 categories including, Best Short Film – In Custody; Best Screenplay – Where The River Divides; Best Cinematography – Where The River Divides; Best Editing – Forgiving The Nightmare as well as Best Male and Female Actors – Gadwill Odhiabo Dennis and Faith Ohuoba, respectively.
As the curtains closed on the maiden edition, participants left with renewed passion and conviction that Africa’s faith-based storytelling movement is entering a transformative era, setting the pace for a bigger and more impactful edition in 2027.
