Vanessa Obioha
Afrinolly, one of Nollywood’s earliest tech-driven distribution platforms for African entertainment content, is planning to launch a new competition later this year.
During a presentation at the recently concluded i-Represent International Documentary Film Festival (iREP), founder Chike Maduegbuna hinted at the initiative, describing it as a “new kind of competition.”
Afrinolly previously launched the Afrinolly Short Film Competition in November 2012, a video-based contest aimed at developing filmmakers as well as documentary and animation content creators. The initiative sought to showcase African talent online and foster the creation of original digital content. Organisations including MTN Nigeria, BlackBerry, iREP, and Goethe-Institut supported it.
The competition was conceived as an online challenge open to Africans globally, focusing on short films and documentaries of up to 15 minutes. Entries were submitted via a dedicated platform, with finalists selected through a combination of jury review and public voting.
Notable judges over the years included filmmakers Tunde Kelani, Femi Odugbemi, and Obi Emelonye, alongside international figures such as Franklin Leonard and Mahen Bonetti. With $100,000 in cash and prizes, the competition quickly gained prominence as a major platform for emerging African filmmakers, receiving an overwhelming number of entries from within and outside Nigeria. Speaking on the proposed revival, Maduegbuna said the new competition will expand its scope to include all forms of content, including AI-generated works.
With the growing influence of artificial intelligence in content creation, the planned initiative could position Afrinolly once again at the forefront of innovation in Nollywood and the broader creative industry.
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