Eight items from across African and diasporic screen media.
Kaelo Iyizoba's "The Spectacular Death of Prisca" Receives TIFF Honourable Mention: Nigerian filmmaker Kaelo Iyizoba's "The Spectacular Death of Prisca" received an Honourable Mention in the Best International Short Film category at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, which announced its 2026 award winners on September 20. The film, a love letter to 1980s Nollywood following a mother's fever-dream quest to rescue her daughter on her wedding day, was the only African title named among TIFF's award recipients and runners-up this year. The Short Cuts jury praised the film's mix of melodrama, action, and comedy, as well as its filmmaking precision. Elia Kalogianni's "MAMMALIA" (Greece-Netherlands) won the Best International Short Film prize. TIFF's 2026 edition presented 294 films from 72 countries over 11 days.
Pathé Touch Afrique Sets Francophone Africa Release for "The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos": Pathé Touch Afrique has set a September 25 theatrical release for "The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos" across francophone African countries, with specific countries, cities, and cinemas still to be confirmed. Directed by Nigeria's Agbajowo Collective, the 101-minute feature follows Jawu, a young mother in a Lagos waterfront community who becomes involved in a fight against forced eviction and redevelopment. It premiered in the Centrepiece section of TIFF 2024. Rushlake Media handles international sales.
Durban FilmMart Adds Animation, Documentary Impact, and Natural-World Storytelling Programmes: The Durban FilmMart Institute has added three new programmes to the 17th Durban FilmMart, running October 9–12 in Durban. An animation programme, developed with the Cape Town International Animation Festival, covers financing, commissioning, distribution, and IP, with participants including Triggerfish, Kugali Media, SABC, and MIFA at Annecy. A new Impact Day, developed with Documentary Africa, Doc Society, Perspective Fund, and Climate Story Labs Africa, examines audience engagement, distribution, and financing for impact-driven documentaries, using case studies including "Children of Honey" and "Murder in Paris." A third programme, developed with the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers organisation (NEWF), focuses on natural-world storytelling, wildlife cinematography, and conservation, including an interactive exhibition with VR work and the short-film programme "The Wild Side."
Egypt Selects "The Stories" as Its 2027 Oscar Submission: Egypt's Cinema Professions Syndicate committee, chaired by director Massad Fouda, has selected Abu Bakr Shawky's "The Stories" ("القِصَص") to represent Egypt in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, announced September 18. The film topped both rounds of the committee's vote, receiving 22 votes in the first round and 14 in the final round, ahead of three other shortlisted films: Noha Adel's "Dokhoul Al-Rabee Yad'hak," Mohamed Siam's "Colonia," and Mohamed Rashad's "Al-Musta'mara." It is the second time Egypt has submitted a film directed by Shawky, following his 2018 submission "Yomeddine." "The Stories" is a five-part anthology drawn from Shawky's own family history, following the decades-long pen-pal relationship between his Egyptian father and Austrian mother, across Egypt's political history from the late 1960s through the 1980s; it stars Nelly Karim, Amir El-Masry, Ahmed Kamal, and Valerie Pachner, and premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November 2025. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 14, 2027. Egypt joins Morocco ("La Más Dulce"), Chad ("Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars"), and Cameroon ("Mabanda") among African countries that have announced their 99th Academy Awards submissions so far this cycle.
Alain Gomis's "Dao" Now Available on VOD: "Dao," French-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis's 2026 docudrama, is now available across multiple French VOD platforms, including Canal VOD, Arte, Amazon Prime Video, and iTunes, per producer SRAB Films. A France-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau co-production, the 185-minute film blends professional and non-professional actors — including members of Gomis's own family — around two parallel ceremonies, a wedding in France and a commemorative ritual in Guinea-Bissau, exploring memory and heritage between African immigrants in France and their countries of origin. It premiered in competition at the 76th Berlinale, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear; Gomis previously won the festival's Silver Bear for "Félicité" in 2017.
Nollywood Icon Olu Jacobs Dies at 84: Nigerian actor Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, known as Olu Jacobs, died September 16 at 84. His son Olusoji Jacobs announced the news on Instagram: "With gratitude to God for a life well lived and fought, that we announce the passing of our dear husband, father, grandfather and uncle, the lion of Lufodo, Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs. 11/04/1942 - 16/09/2026." Born in Kano in 1942, Jacobs trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and worked in British theatre and television before returning to Nigeria, where he became a pioneer of the modern Nollywood industry alongside names like Pete Edochie. With his wife, actress Joke Silva, he co-founded the Lufodo Group, a media company encompassing film production, distribution, and the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts. He is survived by Silva, their children, and their grandchildren.
Apple TV Launches in Kenya, Nigeria, and Across Sub-Saharan Africa: Apple announced on September 15 an expansion of Apple TV to 59 new countries as part of its iCloud+ subscription, bringing the streaming service for the first time to more than 40 African markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Uganda — outside South Africa, where Apple TV has been available separately for years. Instead of launching as a standalone service, Apple TV is now bundled into paid iCloud+ tiers: in Kenya, the entry-level 50GB plan starts at $0.99 a month; in Nigeria, it's about the same. All tiers include Apple TV and Apple Arcade and can be shared with up to five family members. The global rollout, covering 170 countries total, is set to complete by the end of September.
Damilola Orimogunje's "Dear Ajayi" Opens in Nigerian Cinemas Days After Venice World Premiere: Damilola Orimogunje's "Dear Ajayi" began a limited cinema release in Nigeria on September 18, days after the 83rd Venice International Film Festival concluded, where the film had its world premiere in the Giornate degli Autori parallel section and won the Giornate degli Autori Premio Enrico Fulchignoni and the CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Prize, awarded alongside the Fellini Medal. Set in 1990s southwestern Nigeria, the film follows sisters Ade (Bimbo Akintola) and Titi Ajayi (Tosin Adeyemi), whose old resentments resurface when their ailing mother comes to live with them. The cast also includes Lanre Hassan, William Benson, and Uzoamaka Power. The theatrical release expands wider from November 13, distributed by FilmOne.
That's the week.
Enjoy what's left of your weekend wherever you are (assuming there's anything left), and have a productive week ahead!