The Trybe has successfully held a private screening of its debut short film, I Find the Defendant…, bringing together members of the cast and crew, industry experts and potential investors ahead of the film’s festival campaign.
The screening gave selected guests an opportunity to watch the 35-minute courtroom drama and engage with the story before its wider festival run. Attendees responded positively to the film, with industry professionals describing it as a timely project and a necessary story to tell.
Directed by Michael Ajayi and written by Oluwadamisola Adeyinka, I Find the Defendant… centres on AdeJazz, a celebrated jazz artiste whose career and personal life come under pressure after his girlfriend, Cynthia, accuses him of sexual assault.
Set entirely around a Lagos courtroom, the film presents conflicting accounts of the incident and uses multiple perspectives to question how truth is understood when different people remember and interpret the same events differently. The story explores consent, justice, public opinion, celebrity influence and the possibility of false accusations without providing audiences with an easy answer.
The film stars Belu Ogbuka, Empress Allen, Precious Onyekwelibe, Aaron Ayo Akinyemi, Benedict Emmanuel Tochukwu Odoh, Constance Nnenna Izuogu, Nisola Martins and Joy Ozichi.
The Trybe’s debut project has already begun attracting attention on the festival circuit. It was previously selected for the Abuja Photography & Short Film Exhibition and the Twincity International Film Festival, marking the beginning of its journey beyond its initial industry screening.
The production also represents the work of a young creative team, with about 95 per cent of the cast and crew drawn from the 2025 third intake of the EbonyLife Creative Academy.
Following the private screening, the filmmakers are now looking ahead to further festival opportunities, with the team particularly hopeful that I Find the Defendant… will secure a selection at the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).
For The Trybe, the screening represents an important step for a debut project built around a difficult subject and an intentionally uncomfortable question: when two people give conflicting accounts of the same event, how do we determine where the truth lies?
