Yinka Olatunbosun
The crowd outside buzzed with anticipation; inside the screening room, impatience was beginning to ripple. The much-awaited opening film of the iREP International Documentary Film Festival, MADU, was moments away from screening. The lingering noise was understandable. iREP, a yearly convergence of some of Nigeria’s busiest creative minds, thrives as much on conversation as on cinema. The opening cocktail, held at the Ecobank Pan-African Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, served as a vital industry bridge, bringing together veteran filmmakers, scholars, and emerging talents. Among those in attendance were festival Executive Director Femi Odugbemi, Kunle Afolayan, Joke Silva, Richard Mofe-Damijo, and Sam Dede.
When the film finally began, it demanded—and earned—its silence. For director Joel Kachi Benson, MADU marks a significant milestone in African documentary storytelling. Following its 2024 global release on Disney+, the film has continued to gather acclaim, culminating in the 2025 Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary—making Benson the first Nigerian recipient in the category.
The documentary traces the journey of Anthony Madu, the young Nigerian boy whose 2020 video of himself dancing ballet barefoot in the rain captivated millions. Rather than leaning on a familiar “viral-to-fame” arc, Benson, alongside co-director Matt Ogens, crafts an intimate, observational portrait of a life in transition—from the streets of Lagos to the elite Elmhurst Ballet School in the United Kingdom. Known for his cinematic approach to non-fiction, Benson resists spectacle, instead drawing emotional depth from the dancer’s inner world rather than the outward milestones of his ascent.
Blending footage shot across formats—including mobile phones—the film captures moments of departure, return, and adjustment: airport transits, quiet domestic scenes in Nigeria, and the disciplined routines of ballet school life in the UK. Across its 100-minute runtime, MADU demonstrates a careful sense of pacing, allowing its subject’s emotional landscape to unfold with restraint and clarity.
At its core, the film reflects the tensions of cultural dislocation—the familiar pull between origin and aspiration. It explores the subtleties of migration: the ache of leaving home, the pressure to assimilate, and the quiet defiance of gender expectations within a Nigerian context. Through its attention to family, identity, and resilience, the narrative evokes both vulnerability and strength without sentimentality.
The documentary has since reached notable heights within global non-fiction cinema. Beyond its Emmy win, it received a nomination for Outstanding Direction at the Emmys and was also nominated for Best TV Feature Documentary at the International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards.
The opening night also featured visual arts installations and marked the conclusion of a three-day smartphone filmmaking workshop sponsored by Ecobank, which trained 120 young filmmakers. Festival activities continue with daily plenary sessions and screenings at the Ecobank Pan-African Centre and at Freedom Park, Broad Street, its longstanding venue.
Speaking on Ecobank’s support for the initiative, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Babajide Sipe, underscored the bank’s commitment to African storytelling.
“We support iREP because it connects with communities by telling our stories in diverse ways. It provides a platform for Africans to tell their own stories. At Ecobank, our vision is to advance the African agenda by empowering people, especially young creatives. The smartphone workshop is an example—showing that even a phone can be a powerful filmmaking tool.”
Festival director Theo Lawson reflected on iREP’s gradual evolution.
“iREP has grown steadily over the years, from its early days at Terra Kulture. It may have taken time, but the growth has been meaningful.”
Femi Odugbemi emphasised the importance of community and sustained collaboration in keeping the festival alive for over 15 years, often without institutional backing.
“At iREP, we build collaborations and communities. Our first community is our audience. We are intentional about nurturing young people—equipping them with the tools and advocacy needed to make documentary filmmaking more impactful.”
Professor Awam Amkpa, Nigerian-American scholar and Chairman of the iREP Board of Trustees, highlighted the enduring importance of conscious storytelling.
“Freedom Park was a deliberate choice—it is a space with its own history, one that shaped our resilience. In those early days, we relied on networks, sometimes screening films we could barely afford. Today, we are better positioned to help young people become visually literate and more intentional in how they interpret film.”
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