The Ibadan International Film Festival is marking its fifth year with its most ambitious edition yet. IIFF 5.0 will hold entirely online from 17th to 19th September 2026, opening the festival for the first time to filmmakers, industry professionals, and film lovers from Nigeria, Africa, and across the world without the barrier of geography or travel.
The theme for this edition is Reimagining the African Film Industry, and the choice of that phrase is deliberate. The festival is not just programming films this year. It is positioning itself as a platform for a broader conversation about where African cinema is headed, what structures need to change, what technologies need to be embraced, and what a stronger, more sustainable, and more globally connected film industry actually looks like in practice.
The festival is convened by Usman Olarotimi Ogunlade, known within the industry as Blackky, who led a delegation earlier this year to pay a formal courtesy visit to His Imperial Majesty Oba Rashidi Adewolu Akanmu Ladoja, the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland, to brief the monarch on plans for the fifth edition and seek royal blessings ahead of the September event. That visit was not ceremonial. It reflected IIFF's consistent effort to anchor itself within the cultural identity of Ibadan while growing its international footprint simultaneously.
The festival is a three-day event dedicated to showcasing a diverse range of short and feature films from around the globe, providing a platform for directors, actors, cinematographers, producers, and film enthusiasts to engage in screenings, workshops, and panel discussions, with an award night that recognises outstanding talent across the submissions received. Going virtual for the 5th edition extends that mandate globally, removing the limitations that a physical-only event places on participation from filmmakers who want to engage but cannot always be present in Ibadan.
The decision to go virtual also reflects a maturity in the festival's thinking about reach and sustainability. A Nigerian film festival with a genuinely global virtual audience creates something that does not yet exist in enough numbers across the continent: a consistent international window for African storytelling that is not dependent on the budgets and logistics of a major physical production.
IIFF 5.0 is supported by Knewrow Resources Limited. Registration is now open at bit.ly/IIFFv5_0.
