Highlighting the growing global interest in Nigeria’s dynamic and rapidly evolving documentary filmmaking scene, seven Nigerian documentary filmmakers are currently attending the prestigious Sunny Side of the Doc marketplace holding in La Rochelle, France.
The marketplace kicked off on Monday, June 23 and will run to the 26th of June, 2025. For the second consecutive year, the French Embassy in Nigeria, in partnership with StoryMi
Academy, is supporting the participation of the seven Nigerian filmmakers in Sunny Side of the Doc, one of the world’s leading industry events and international marketplaces dedicated to documentary films.
Founded in 1990, this renowned event brings together decision-makers, producers, filmmakers, sales agents and investors from around the globe for four days of networking, project financing and international distribution opportunities for documentary films and
series.
As a major date on the international documentary calendar, Sunny Side of the Doc is built around three main goals of Fostering international co-productions and the development of new documentary projects; Facilitating the global circulation of documentary films and Informing and training professionals on current market trends, media economics, and emerging technologies (AI, visual immersion, etc.).
“This festival represents a major opportunity in the careers of these young directors, who carry powerful stories that deserve to be shared with the world,” said Christophe Pecot,Audiovisual attaché for the French embassy in Nigeria.
Five of the seven participants are alumni of the StoryMi Academy and were selected based on the strength and originality of their new film projects. Over the past few years, they have already demonstrated remarkable talent, with some achieving notable success during their fellowships. On Your Own by Daniel Itegboje, for instance, was recently nominated for Best African Documentary at the AMVCA Awards.
With their upcoming feature-length projects, the selection jury was especially impressed by their professional growth during the fellowship and the compelling nature of their stories each capable of amplifying Nigerian voices, reflecting its society and shedding light on key national and global issues.
The filmmakers selected for the delegation are Daniel Itegboje (Beyond the Horizon – exploring the brain drain in Nigeria’s healthcare sector); Aima OJ (No Way Home – tracing the history of migration through time); Shedrack Salami, (Beyond Olympic Glory – following the dreams of a Nigerian female boxer); Lateefah Mayaki and Solomon Shaibu (Lost Times – investigating Lagos Island’s colonial history and its contemporary reality).
They will be accompanied by two prominent mentors and filmmakers, Ike Nnaebue, director and producer whose film, No U-Turn won the Jury Prize at the 2021 Berlin Biennale and received international recognition as well as Chika Oduah, a multidisciplinary storyteller and filmmaker. She is a former Africa correspondent for VICE News, France 24 English, Voice of America and Al Jazeera and currently serves as Content Editor at BIRD, an innovative pan-African news agency.
As part of a special focus session titled “Africa on Film: Stories From Within”, the five selected filmmakers will pitch their projects to an international audience in hopes of securing co- producers, creative collaborators and distribution opportunities.
“We are incredibly proud of this delegation, the quality of their projects and the hard work they’ve put in over the past two years to reach this stage,” said Sophie Bouillon, director and founder of StoryMi Academy, a Lagos-based media training initiative for emerging storytellers
and media professionals. “These young filmmakers are immensely talented, and our past experience at international festivals has shown a strong appetite for unique and sensitive African stories,” she said.
