The Story⚡
The XVI S16 Film Festival 2025 officially opens with Suzannah Mirghani’s Cotton Queen at Alliance Française Lagos. Five packed days of Nigerian premieres, competitive shorts, features, panels and awards follow until Friday 5 December across Lagos.
Tell Me More
The Surreal16 Collective founded the S16 Film Festival in 2021, in partnership with A Whitespace Creative Agency, Fatherland, and OAK Media. It serves as a curated platform for arthouse cinema, prioritising African independent voices while including selected international work, with every film presented as a Nigerian premiere.
This year’s edition runs from 1–5 December across three venues — Alliance Française Lagos, Filmhouse Landmark Cinema, and the Nigerian Film Corporation — adding two new locations compared to previous years. The festival introduces the AFP Critics Prize for the best African short film made on the continent, joining the Audience Choice Awards (short and feature) and the Rising Star Award.
The programme balances new African work, international presentations, and restored classics.
Here is the day-by-day schedule:
Monday 1 December
Opening Feature: Cotton Queen – 8–10 p.m.
Venue: Alliance Française Lagos
Tuesday 2 December
Competitive Shorts Block 1 – 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
XVI + Mostra de Cinemas Africanos – 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Special French Presentation (Bye Bye) – 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Feature: Minimals in a Titanic World – 3–5 p.m.
All at Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1
Wednesday 3 December
Competitive Shorts Block 2 – 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1)
Special Presentation: My Father’s Shadow – 1–2:30 p.m. (Alliance Française Lagos)
Panel Talk: Road to Cannes – 2:30–4 p.m. (Alliance Française Lagos)
Workshop: Shorts Distribution – 5–6 p.m. (Nigerian Film Corporation)
Special German Presentation: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul – 7–8:30 p.m. (Nigerian Film Corporation)
Thursday 4 December
Competitive Shorts Block 3 – 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1)
Special Dutch Presentation: Fantastique – afternoon slot (Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1)
Critics Panel: Introducing AFP & The Future of African Film Discourse – afternoon (Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1)
Friday 5 December
Non-Competitive Shorts – 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (Filmhouse Landmark Cinema 1)
Closing Feature: Memory of Princess Mumbi – 3–4:30 p.m. (Alliance Française Lagos)
Awards Ceremony & Closing Remarks – 4:30–6:30 p.m. (Alliance Française Lagos)
All screenings and events are open to the public.
In Summary
Five days, three venues, one clear focus: independent cinema treated as art. The 2025 S16 Film Festival offers Nigerian premieres of some of the year’s most talked-about African features, a strong competitive shorts section dominated by new Nigerian and African voices, the launch of a new critics’ prize, and practical industry conversations.
Entry is open to the public; arrive early for popular screenings. For anyone interested in where African cinema is heading next, this is the place to be this week.
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