For the third consecutive year, the French Embassy in Nigeria, in partnership with StoryMi Academy, has trained a new cohort of young Nigerian documentary filmmakers. The mentorship programme was initiated by StoryMi Academy and is led by award-winning French journalist, Sophie Bouillon, with support from the French Embassy in Nigeria.
According to Bouillon, the aim of the training and mentoring programme is to “encourage quality documentary production in Nigeria, help young Nigerian directors and journalists make a worthy living from their profession, as well as promote cultural and creative exchange between French and Nigerian directors and producers.”
The five fellows selected for the StoryMi Academy Documentary programme screened their short films at EbonyLife on Saturday, January 10. The screening, tagged the Minidocs Premiere, attracted filmmakers, producers, and lovers of Nigerian storytelling, who gathered to celebrate new voices in Nigerian documentary filmmaking.
After months of research, filming, rewriting, doubt, clarity, and starting again, the films were finally ready to meet an audience. The projects were selected from over 150 submissions, and the fellows worked closely on their stories over the last six months of training and development.
Each documentary reflects the questions, contradictions, and quiet truths that its filmmaker chose to explore, offering viewers a deeper window into Nigeria and everyday realities often left untold.
The five young filmmakers were trained and mentored in the art and science of documentary filmmaking for six months by Nigerian and French professionals. As part of the curriculum, instructors including Ike Nnaebue, Chika Oduah, Marjolaine Grappe, and Joel Kachi Benson actively coached the fellows during production. Benson is also recognised as the first Nigerian to win an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary category.
As part of the mentorship programme, the selected filmmakers will pitch their projects to audience at the BtoB event FIPADOC, a festival in Biarritz, France, from January 26 to 29, in hopes of securing partners and distribution opportunities.
