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Naija AI Film Festival · Guide

How to win the Naija AI Film Festival.Lagos. Thirteen categories. AI that tells a story.

NAIFF is Nigeria's first AI film festival, held at Alliance Française in Lagos. Entry asks for AI in one or more aspects of production, a note on how you used it and English subtitles. The 2026 call ran from 1 May to 31 July and the festival took place on 19 and 20 September. Here are the terms, the categories and a plan for the next call, starting with the screenplay in 熙熙.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • 2026 call ran May to July
  • 13 award categories
  • Lagos, 19 and 20 Sept 2026
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. 熙熙 does not organise the Naija AI Film Festival and is not affiliated with its organisers. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official terms

Available today in 熙熙: the screenplay for free, and a storyboard generated from it on the 年度会员, at ¥168 一年 including 3,000 张额度.

Now live: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, with 年度会员. Studio, ¥168 一年 for 3,000 张额度, adds real-time collaboration for teams.

The rules on one card

What NAIFF asks of a film.

The founder, Obinna Okerekeocha, built NAIFF as Nigeria's first festival dedicated to AI films. It welcomes fiction and factual films, hybrids and experiments. Its organisers say they want AI used as a meaningful storytelling tool, not as a novelty.
Latest edition
19 and 20 September 2026, Alliance Française, Ikoyi, Lagos
2026 call
1 May to 31 July 2026, on FilmFreeway
Volume
350+ films in 2025, 1,300+ in 2026
AI requirement
AI in one or more aspects of production
Disclosure
A description of how AI was used
Language
English subtitles required
Who can enter
Nigeria and Africa, with no restriction on nationality
Length caps
Terms page: up to 15 minutes, for both formats

Source: naijaaifilmfest.com, its Terms and Conditions (effective 5 April 2025), its AI_FRICA 2026 page and a Lagos Review report of 7 June 2026, read on 1 October 2026. The FilmFreeway page is blocked to our tools, so fees and the current length rules are not confirmed. Press calls 2026 the second edition, while the site calls it the maiden edition.

Key dates

The 2026 edition, from call to awards night.

The 2026 edition is over, and its calendar is the best guide to the next one.

  1. 1 May 2026

    Call opens

    Submissions opened on FilmFreeway, according to the Lagos Review. The festival site shows a May to July window.

  2. 31 Jul 2026

    Call closes

    The 2026 deadline. The festival site later reports more than 1,300 films submitted.

  3. 19 Sep 2026

    Day 1: showcase and talks

    A Global Film Showcase, panels and talks, including an introduction to Seedance, with a virtual stream.

  4. 20 Sep 2026

    Day 2: awards night

    A keynote by Malik Afegbua, a special AI film selection and the awards presentation.

  5. May to July 2027, expected

    Next call

    Not announced. The 2026 window ran from May to July, with the festival in September.

Who decides

Directors, jurors and a faculty.

The 2026 page lists a festival director, a deputy director and seven jurors. A counter on the same page reads five jurors, so names may shift between editions. Read the list as a profile of the room.

  • The festival directors

    Chisomme Ifeakandu, a film and TV director-producer who founded African Iris Media, is Festival Director. Faustina Okomayin, who leads international content export at AfroFilms Global, is Deputy Director. African stories for a global market are their daily work.

  • Animation and 3D jurors

    Omenka Ulonka is a two-time Africa Movie Academy Award-winning animator who advocates for ethical AI. Uche Okiya is a CGI and 3D specialist. Expect close attention to how a character moves and a world is built.

  • Story and scholarship

    Dana Verde is a screenwriter, director and producer. Anthony Adah is a film studies professor who researches African and Indigenous cinemas. Ronya Man is a filmmaker and producer. Structure and cultural truth both count.

  • AI creators and brand storytellers

    Bjorn Olatunde Lawal-Solarin, a children's author and AI creative, and Yemi Arawore, a creative strategist and Cannes Lions delegate, complete the list. A tight story that sells in one idea suits them.

Award categories

Thirteen awards, six to aim at.

The 2025 edition gave awards in thirteen categories: short, long form, documentary, animated, music video, experimental, folktale creators, shortform creator, AI for education, international, student or youth, Naija Soul and The Disruptor. We take the six where a 熙熙 project is strongest. Under each, what we would do.

  • 01

    Best AI Short Film

    Won in 2025 by The People of The Forest by Nzube Chikwado Ndiokwelu (Nigeria).

    The widest door. A short with one place, one character and a local truth suits it.

  • 02

    Best AI Animated Film

    Won in 2025 by A Breath Apart by Zoubeir Jlassi (Tunisia).

    Animation is a category of its own, so a stylised look does not compete with photoreal. Choose a look and hold it.

  • 03

    Best AI Folktale Creators

    Won in 2025 by Torm Bringer by Nirvs Ai (Nigeria).

    Tell a story that already lives in your family or your city. Oral stories travel well in short form, and they are yours to retell.

  • 04

    Naija Soul

    Best cultural interpretation using AI. Won in 2025 by Oba Eweka 1 by Joel Ntiejum (Nigeria).

    A category that tests respect. Consult people from the culture and show them the film before you submit.

  • 05

    Best Shortform Creator

    Under 60 seconds. Won in 2025 by Dead Drop by Stephen Shenboyejo (Nigeria).

    Hook in two seconds, with one reveal in the last five. Nothing else fits in a minute.

  • 06

    AI for Education, Children's Content

    Won in 2025 by Newton’s Law by Precious Eboh Okiya (Nigeria).

    Gentle, clear and true. One idea per film, explained by a character a child would follow.

The 2025 edition

What the first winners say.

The 2025 edition counted 350+ films, 14+ countries and 18 award winners, by the festival's own figures. The top prizes went to The People of The Forest (Best AI Short Film) and Godzilla in Lagos (Best AI Long Form Film), both from Nigeria.

  1. 01

    Nigerian films took nine of the thirteen category awards listed. The rest went to Tunisia, Egypt, Italy and Turkey. Home ground helps, and the International category is yours if you are not Nigerian.

  2. 02

    A world icon in a local city. From its title, Godzilla in Lagos drops a global monster into the festival's own city. A local setting with a global reference reads at once.

  3. 03

    One creator, two awards. Nirvs Ai took Best Long Form with Godzilla in Lagos and Best Folktale with Torm Bringer. Several strong films from one hand can score twice.

  4. 04

    Every format had a winner. A documentary, a music video, an experimental film and a children's film each took an award, so a niche film is not a lost cause.

  5. 05

    The field has quadrupled. The site reports more than 1,300 submissions in 2026 against 350 the year before. A stronger field asks for a stronger first minute.

From script to frame

Voidborn: six shots, one night in the ruins.

NAIFF sets a Best AI Animated Film award as its spotlight category, and the submission guidelines explicitly require an anime pilot equipped with English subtitles. The scene you're viewing originates from Voidborn, specifically episode 0, crafted by the 熙熙 creative team, where every individual shot is presented through three layers: screenplay text that describes the action, a storyboard frame that visualizes the composition, and a final rendered image that delivers the polished result.

Logline. Once every seven years, the Rift tears open across the sky and devours the world's accumulated dreams. A swordsman who has sworn an oath to protect a blind seer escorts her downward through the Rift's descending levels, both of them driven toward fulfilling a promise they once made to a girl they were forced to leave behind.

Screenplay · episode 0 · English subtitles

EXT. RUINS OF THE FIRST LEVEL - NIGHT

Broken towers rise against a violet sky that seems to pulse with unnatural light. SIM, a swordsman dressed in a flowing black cloak, walks steadily beside LADY MARIA, who wears blindfolded white robes from head to toe, her steps guided by his presence.

SIM

Tell me, Maria... do you think Leia still believes we are alive, or has she given up hope by now?

MARIA

We made a promise... the two of us.

A line of white automatons rises from the ruins.

AUTOMATON

The Rift will wait for no one.

SIM

What are machines doing at this level?

One automaton steps forward. Its face is blank.

AUTOMATON

We must return to the surface.

Its eyes ignite red.

SIM

I am Sim, sworn guardian of Lady Maria... and by that oath, I will proceed with your execution here and now.

Steel meets steel. Lightning runs down the blade.

CUT TO:

  1. A swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded woman in white walk through ruins at night
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    01

    Wide · the pair

    Wide shot, a bald swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded red-haired woman in white walk through night ruins

  2. Medium two-shot of a bald swordsman and a blindfolded red-haired woman
    Storyboard frame of the two-shot, in grey
    02

    Two-shot · the promise

    Medium two-shot, the swordsman and the blindfolded seer side by side, violet night sky, broken towers

  3. Three white humanoid automatons stand in night ruins
    Storyboard frame of the automatons shot, in grey
    03

    Wide · the machines

    Wide low angle, three white humanoid automatons standing in the ruins, cold blue moonlight

  4. Close-up of a white automaton with a smooth blank face
    Storyboard frame of the blank face close-up, in grey
    04

    Close-up · the blank face

    Close-up on an automaton's smooth faceless head, black eye slots, cables at the neck, ruins behind

  5. A white automaton's eyes glow red
    Storyboard frame of the red eyes close-up, in grey
    05

    Close-up · the red eyes

    Same framing, the automaton's eyes ignite red, the swordsman's shoulder out of focus in the foreground

  6. A swordsman strikes with a katana wreathed in lightning and sparks
    Storyboard frame of the clash shot, in grey
    06

    Action · the clash

    Dynamic low angle, the swordsman strikes with his katana, lightning running along the blade, sparks, cape flying

Voidborn, episode 0 runs 13 minutes, under the 15 minute cap the Terms page mentions. The film won 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place 熙熙 at the Mondial Chroma Awards, plus an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival. The player is set to begin here.

The script

Ten minutes, five movements.

The Terms page lists a 15 minute cap for both formats, which looks like a typing error, so stay well under it. Ten minutes leaves room: about 10 screenplay pages and 100 to 120 shots of 5 to 6 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 1:00

    The place

    Open on Lagos, your village or a world drawn from it. Let the setting say who is speaking.

  2. 1:00 to 3:00

    The person

    One character and what they need.

  3. 3:00 to 7:00

    The trial

    The obstacle, then a choice. Let a local detail, a proverb or a rhythm carry the cost.

  4. 7:00 to 9:00

    The turn

    What changes. If it is a folktale, this is where the lesson lands.

  5. 9:00 to 10:00

    The echo

    Return to the opening image or voice. End with the AI note in the credits.

English subtitles are required. If the film speaks another language, such as Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or Pidgin, subtitle it in English and keep the original audio.

Month by month

From now to May 2027.

The 2027 call has not been announced. The 2026 window ran from 1 May to 31 July and the festival followed in September, so expect a call from May to July 2027. That gives you about seven months.
  1. 01

    October 2026

    Pick the category

    Read the 2025 award list and choose the one that fits your story. Write a one-page pitch in 熙熙, free.

  2. 02

    November 2026

    The screenplay

    Write the story. If you adapt a folktale, speak first with someone from the culture that holds it.

  3. 03

    December 2026 to January 2027

    Fixed references, then storyboard

    Approve each character and place once. Storyboard shot by shot, with framing, angle and movement.

  4. 04

    February to April 2027

    Generate and cut

    Generate scene after scene with Seedance in 熙熙, on the 年度会员. Then edit, mix and add English subtitles.

  5. 05

    May 2027

    Write the AI note

    The Terms ask for a description of how AI was used. List tools, versions and tasks. Misrepresenting it is a ground for disqualification.

  6. 06

    June to July 2027

    Submit on FilmFreeway

    Read the live rules and the fee on the page, then submit before the window closes. Expect the deadline near the end of July.

Ways to be disqualified

Eight ways to be out before the jury reads a frame.

The Terms are short, and this list covers most of them. Two of the traps are about honesty.

  • No AI in the film

    Submissions must feature AI in one or more aspects of production: scripting, editing, animation, voice or visual effects. A film with no AI is out of scope.

  • No description of the AI process

    Filmmakers must provide a description of how AI was used in production. An empty field breaks the rule.

  • Misrepresenting AI use

    The Terms list misrepresenting AI usage among the grounds for disqualification, next to plagiarism. Say what you used and nothing else.

  • Clearances you lack

    You affirm that you own or have secured every right, licence and permission needed. Protected characters, brands and music are the usual risks in AI films.

  • Hateful, offensive or harmful content

    The festival may disqualify an entry with hateful, offensive or harmful material, or anything unlawful or defamatory.

  • No English subtitles

    Every film must include English subtitles, whatever its language.

  • Trusting a draft Terms page

    The Terms, effective 5 April 2025, still hold a placeholder for the submission portal and list a 15 minute cap for both formats. Confirm length and fee on FilmFreeway before you submit.

  • Missing the window

    The 2026 call closed on 31 July. The Terms say nothing of late entries, so assume none and submit before the date.

Why 熙熙

NAIFF asks for AI and an honest note. Keep both ready.

NAIFF wants AI in at least one aspect of production and a description of how it was used. It imposes no tool. 熙熙 covers screenplay, storyboard and footage in one connected project, and keeps that note within reach.

  • Your AI note, already traced

    Each shot is tied to its scene, its storyboard frame and its prompt, so the description of how AI was used comes from the project and not from memory.

  • Seedance, on the programme

    The 2026 programme listed an introduction to Seedance on 19 September, and 熙熙's footage pipelines run on Seedance 2.0 and 2.5. We are not affiliated with the festival or with that talk.

  • A place that looks the same twice

    Approved references for characters and places carry through every shot. That matters when the setting is the point: a street or a market that must be the same in shot ten and shot ninety.

  • A free start

    The 免费档 is 免费 and has no end date. 年度会员 costs ¥168 一年 for 3,000 张额度, with the storyboard and Seedance video generation.

Real productions

International festival-recognized films have been written and produced with 熙熙.

熙熙 is already being used as a creative workspace for real AI film productions, from cinematic shorts to animated series pilots selected, nominated, and awarded by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place 熙熙

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • Award Winner

      Seoul International AI Film Festival

  • Video thumbnail for Les Fils du Vinnana

    Les Fils du Vinnana

    AI short film

    Festival recognition

    • Honorable Mention

      Top Quark Film Festival

    • People's Choice Nominee

      Illuminate Oneness of Humanity

    • Nominee

      ALTFF Supershort

  • Video thumbnail for Lost Garden

    Lost Garden

    AI animated series pilot

    Festival recognition

    • Finalist

      AI London Festival

See what creators are building

The pipeline

Write. Board. Produce.

  1. 熙熙 screenplay editor: acts, sequences and beats above the formatted script of The Yellow Umbrella

    01The screenplay, enriched

    An industry-standard screenplay editor, and more: a visual outline and beat editor, your writing inspirations (notes, photos, audio) kept next to the page, and an AI researcher to support your writing, not replace it.

  2. 熙熙 storyboard: shot S3 of The Yellow Umbrella with characters, shot settings and the script beside it

    02The storyboard, made easy

    Shot breakdown generated from your screenplay, manual control over every shot (frame, angle, movement, duration), and generative AI previsualization in one click.

  3. 熙熙 production canvas: shots S3 and S4 as connected nodes carrying their storyboard panels and prompts

    03AI production, with finesse

    Footage generation pipelines connected to your screenplay and storyboard. Optimized out of the box, fully editable workflow.

More AI film festivals

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for festival films

FAQ

The Naija AI Film Festival, your questions

How do you win the Naija AI Film Festival?
The festival publishes no judging grid. Its organisers say they want AI as a meaningful storytelling tool, not a novelty, and it gives awards in thirteen categories. Pick the category that fits your story, add a clear note on how you used AI, and tell the story with a local truth.
Is NAIFF only for Nigerians?
The Terms open it to filmmakers in Nigeria and Africa, and also say there is no restriction on nationality. The 2025 list includes an International AI Film award, won by a film from Turkey, and winners from Tunisia, Egypt and Italy.
When is the next call?
Not announced. The 2026 call ran from 1 May to 31 July, and the festival took place on 19 and 20 September 2026 in Lagos. A May to July window in 2027 is the working assumption.
How do I submit?
Through FilmFreeway, according to the Lagos Review. The page is blocked to our tools, so we cannot confirm the fee. The Terms say AI use must be described and English subtitles included.
How long may the film run?
The Terms page, effective 5 April 2025, gives up to 15 minutes for both mini-feature and feature, which looks like a mistake. The 2025 winners included a long form film. Confirm the limit on FilmFreeway.
Does NAIFF allow films made with 熙熙?
NAIFF asks for AI in one or more aspects of production and imposes no tool. 熙熙 covers the screenplay, the storyboard and the footage today, with pipelines that run on Seedance 2.0 and 2.5 in the 年度会员.
Who judges?
The 2026 page lists a festival director, a deputy director and seven jurors, among them an animator, a CGI specialist, a screenwriter and a film studies professor. The Terms say decisions are made by an independent jury and are final.
Who owns the film?
Yes. The Terms say you keep full copyright and grant NAIFF a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to screen the film and to use excerpts, trailers and images for promotion.

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