FilmHub, the community cinema platform launched by Fusion Intelligence, is expanding its footprint through a new partnership with Café One, a coffee and coworking brand with seventeen locations across nine states in Nigeria. The collaboration will transform four locations —Kaduna, Enugu, Uyo, and Owerri—into neighbourhood cinema hubs starting August 1, 2025.
The move follows the debut of FilmHub’s first location in Lagos earlier this year and forms part of an ambitious plan to activate 50 community cinemas nationwide before the end of 2025.
“Café One has over 16 locations nationwide,” said Kolade Adewoye, CEO of Fusion Intelligence, FilmHub’s parent company. “Having just four on board immediately gives us more cities to experiment with—and more communities to serve.”
The pilot program will screen licensed Nollywood films, including recent releases and hits audiences may have missed during their original cinema runs. The first film on the lineup is ‘Red Circle’, directed by Akay Mason and distributed by Nile Entertainment. Tickets are priced at ₦3,000.
At Café One, the rollout is less about building cinema from scratch and more about adapting familiar spaces for cultural connection.
“We believe community is built not just around coffee and coworking but also around culture, storytelling, and shared experiences,” said Kelechi Nwozuzu, General Manager at Café One. “This isn’t just about watching a movie—it’s about experiencing it with your tribe.”
Each location will feature cinema-ready zones equipped with projector technology, surround sound, ambient lighting, and curated seating. Screenings are scheduled for evenings and weekends—times when the café’s community is most likely to gather and unwind.
While the growth of community cinemas in Nigeria is exciting, there are concerns about piracy and content security.
The communal screening model uses piracy-proof software to encrypt and secure content across multiple layers. Films are streamed using Convoy, Fusion Intelligence’s playback system that decrypts content at the point of projection. All screening laptops are further locked down, and each venue complies with distributor security guidelines, including CCTV coverage.
For payments, Fusion Intelligence has partnered with a payment provider that offers POS systems and digital integrations, allowing real-time reconciliation of ticket sales and payouts.
“We’ve built for content security and revenue transparency from the ground up,” said Adewoye. “It’s the only way to gain the trust of distributors and filmmakers at scale.”
Screenings begin August 1, 2025, with more titles expected to be added in the coming weeks. Follow this link to see details about the confirmed screening schedule.
