Filmhouse Group took a leading role at the Africa Film Finance Forum (AFFF), which returned to Lagos this September with an ambitious agenda: to chart a path toward building a $20 billion film industry that can serve the continent’s 1.4 billion people. Over three days, from 16 to 18 September, filmmakers, investors, distributors and cultural leaders gathered to tackle questions of financing, distribution and sustainability in African cinema.
This year’s summit, themed “Pan-African Film Economy: Building a $20 Billion Industry for 1.4 Billion People“, was marked by a new partnership with Filmhouse Group, West Africa’s largest cinema and entertainment company. The collaboration underscored a growing recognition that structural investment and cross-border alliances will be central to the future of African storytelling.
Ahead of the main programme, Filmhouse Group also sponsored a pre-cocktail event on 15 September in collaboration with the British Council. The networking session drew filmmakers, financiers and cultural stakeholders into early conversations about how best to align creativity with capital.
Kene Okwuosa, Group CEO of Filmhouse Group, described the partnership as a strategic step toward strengthening the industry’s financial foundations. “By collaborating with the Africa Film Finance Forum, we are helping to open new avenues for funding, distribution, and collaboration that will benefit filmmakers and audiences across the continent,” he said.
FilmOne Entertainment, the distribution and production arm of the group, also played a visible role. Its Chief Content Officer, Ladun Awobokun, joined a roundtable titled “From Vision to Viability: What Financiers Need, What Filmmakers Must Deliver,” which unpacked the practicalities of bridging artistic ambition with market realities.
Awobokun stressed the need to position African stories for global resonance: “We are committed to championing African storytelling and creating opportunities that amplify our filmmakers on a global scale. Partnering with the British Council at AFFF gives us the platform to connect local talent with investors and industry leaders to build a thriving Pan-African film economy.”
For convener Mary Ephraim-Egbas, the urgency of the forum lies in designing frameworks that can finally match Africa’s cultural weight with financial muscle. “Our stories have always carried immense value, but we haven’t had the structures to unlock their full potential. What we are doing at AFFF is deliberately aligning creativity with capital and storytelling with strategy,” she explained.
Discussions across the forum touched on funding models, distribution strategies, and cross-border collaborations, conversations that highlighted both the opportunities and obstacles facing African cinema at this critical juncture. Filmhouse Group’s involvement, industry insiders say, signals a willingness from established players to put their weight behind collective solutions rather than isolated gains.
As Africa positions itself as a global player in film, the Africa Film Finance Forum has become more than an annual event. It is a testing ground for the partnerships and policies that could determine whether the continent can transform its cultural capital into a sustainable industry, one that is globally competitive, structurally sound, and rooted in the aspirations of its people.
