Lagos: The Lights Camera Africa! festival returns from October 1st to 3rd after a seven-year hiatus
The Lights Camera Africa! (LCA!) festival is back in Lagos. Its tenth edition is being held from October 1st to 3rd, 2026, at the MUSON Centre under the theme "Convivium: In Gathering," seven years after the previous one, reports the specialized Nigerian media outlet What Kept Me Up. Admission is free.
Created in 2011 by curator and cultural producer Ugoma Ebilah, LCA! had established itself as one of the few Lagos events dedicated to auteur and independent cinema, far from the commercial circuits of Nollywood. Its last edition was in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic first interrupted the series; then, the founder explained to What Kept Me Up, funding ran out. The festival is now adopting a biennial rhythm, with intermediate events held between editions.
A selection focused on new voices
Among the films announced are "Shine Your Eyes" by Matias Mariani, "When Nigeria Happens" by Ema Edosio, "Breast Milk" by Ifeyinwa Arinze, "Lizard" by Akinola Davies Jr., and "Birdie" by Praise Odigie Paige, according to the same source. It is a mix of feature films, documentaries, and shorts that highlights a generation of Nigerian filmmakers whose work often circulates more in international festivals than in cinemas on the continent.
The edition is supported by the Open Society Foundations, the operator MTN, and the association Mbari Kola: The Arts Society.
The real challenge: being seen at home
The revival of LCA! highlights an issue that permeates all of African cinema: the audience. Africa produces films that win awards at Cannes, Sundance, or Berlin, but the number of screens per capita remains one of the lowest in the world, and the most daring works struggle to find a venue between Lagos, Nairobi, and Dakar. The free admission chosen by the festival is a direct response to this economic barrier.
The seven-year interruption also serves as a reminder of the fragility of cultural funding on the continent, where festivals rely heavily on foreign donors and private patrons due to a lack of stable public policies. The biennial rhythm chosen by the team is specifically aimed at making the event sustainable in the long term.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
