Where was Nigeria at TIFF 2024?

The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF 2024, held last month in Canada’s economic capital. And for over ten days from September 5-15, everything revolved around movies as audiences hobnobbed with stars, became the first to see newly released films, soaked in the glitz and glamour, and the money people continued with their movie business. Like audiences, countries with interest in film making also use the occasion of film festivals to highlight and promote everything from their films to potential movie locations in their country and whatever tax incentives there are. The idea is to attract investment.

For this year’s TIFF, I managed to catch the last few days of the festival. My simple plan was to see as many Nigerian and African films as possible. Or to watch films that had related subject matter. And, of course, TIFF is not complete without several visits to the Nigerian stand. It is always interesting to see who makes it to the festival. In the last two editions, I have met and made some connections at that stand. But alas, Nigeria was nowhere to be found at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. No, I am not talking about Nigerian films or Nigerian film directors because there were a few of those. I am talking about Nigeria representing itself as a film making country, the world’s No. 2, or No. 3.

Nigeria’s absence or disappearance was surprising, not because it must be at every major film festival, but only because Nigeria has been present since 2017 when I began attending the Toronto International Film Festival. Granted, there were questions as to whether Nigeria’s presence at TIFF was yielding any benefits to the country or whether we were maximising potential opportunities. Outside of that, the oft-asked question was why Nigeria was being represented at the Toronto International Film Festival by the National Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB. My first TIFF attendance in 2017 had fellow Film Studies students from Carleton University Ottawa wondering aloud about the presence of Nigeria’s Censors Board and expecting me to have an answer. I had no answer but to join in the question: Why is a Censors Board representing the country at an event that other countries go to great lengths to present themselves as most inviting and friendly? Let us put aside the issue of which agency represents Nigeria at TIFF and look at how active it is in promoting Nigerian films screening at TIFF.

Last year, I wrote on this platform how the then executive director of the Censors Board, Adedayo Thomas, abstained from the premiere of I Do Not Come to You by Chance – a film directed by Ishaya Bako and produced by the trio of Genevieve Nnaji, Chioma Onyenwe, and Chinny Carter. His reason as to why he could not be seen near the film (or words to that effect), was that the film had not yet been rated by the board. When I pointed out that, since the film had not screened in Nigeria, the Board could wait till then, he gave an analogy about exportation, and other examples I could not understand.

I was confused then, and I am confused now. How could the representative of the Nigerian government choose to stay away from the biggest film from their own country? This was a missed opportunity to get behind the film. Meanwhile at this year’s TIFF, Pitch Perfect actor Rebel Wilson’s film The Deb premiered as the closing film with the full backing of her country, Australia. From the foregoing, it will be understandable if anyone concludes that that Nigeria does not have to be TIFF. But that will be the wrong conclusion.

Why Nigeria needs TIFF

The question, of course, could be asked: Why does Nigeria need to be at film festivals anyway? Not just any film festival, but I am talking about the Toronto International Film Festival.

There are many reasons; you may even have some yourself. For one, Toronto and the greater Toronto area (GTA) is home to many Nigerians and other fans of Nigerian films. For a festival like TIFF that relies on paying audiences, it is a plus to screen films they know are going to have a ready audience.

There is an even more compelling reason Nigeria should embrace and hold on to TIFF. It is that the festival has shown that it cares about Nigeria’s film industry. In 2016, under their now defunct City to City programme, Spotlight Lagos, TIFF showcased films from eight selected Nigerian film directors: Omoni Oboli (Okafor’s Law), Kemi Adetiba (The Wedding Party), Uduak-Obong Patrick (Just Not Married), Daniel Meke Oriahi (Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo), Abba Makama (Green White Green), Niyi Akinmolayan (The Arbitration), Steve Gukas (93 Days), and Izu Ojukwu (76). At a subsequent edition of TIFF (2017), Omoni Oboli’s name and pictures were on display all around the venue of TIFF.

I am worried that what seems like a temporary Nigeria’s disappearance could become permanent. Back in the day, during the early to mid 2000s, at the Cannes Film Festival in France, Nigeria used to have a pavilion to herself. It was never used to its full potential, but it was a welcoming presence in faraway France because, for 11 days while the festival lasted, that pavilion was like a part of Nigeria and our embassy in a foreign land. Back then, the entire world was pumped up about Nollywood.

Not to go too far done this rabbit hole, Nigeria stopped having its own pavilion and I am not sure if that has changed. Nigeria used to be the only African country with a pavilion. Countries that did not have pavilions were bunched with other countries in the market (Marche de Festival) which, as the name suggests, was arranged like a market complete with booths and stalls.

Do not get me wrong, there is no shame plus I am sure even being in the market cost good money. But if you are the world’s No. 2 or 3 film making country in the world you may as well represent yourself as such.

I know everything that goes wrong in Nigeria can be blamed on corruption even though incompetence is a bigger problem. Still, there are more than enough knowledgeable people at the various government agencies responsible for film, culture, tourism, investment, and more, who know how important film festivals are and do not need me telling them how beneficial film festivals can be to the country’s film industry.