ABUJA, October 20, 2026: The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has announced plans to partner with Chinese filmmakers as the 23rd Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF) opened with a Chinese film and delegates from China in attendance.
Dr. Shaibu Husseini, the board’s executive director and chief executive officer, made the announcement at the festival’s opening ceremony in Abuja.
The festival opened with The Shadow’s Edge, starring Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka-fai. Organisers presented the screening as the film’s first in Africa.
The Chinese-Hong Kong production premiered in Beijing in August 2025. It is a Chinese remake of the Hong Kong thriller Eye in the Sky.
The proposed NFVCB partnership comes amid broader efforts to strengthen film and media cooperation between Nigeria and China. In August, China Movie Channel and the Nigerian Television Authority signed a cooperation agreement covering film co-production, programme exchange, professional training and technology transfer.
Chinese cinema also features prominently in this year’s AIFF programme, with eight Chinese titles reportedly scheduled across the five-day festival. They include G for Gap and The Return of the Lame Hero. The festival has previously used Chinese cultural venues, including the Chinese Cultural Centre during its 2023 edition.
For the NFVCB, which regulates the Nigerian film and video industry, the proposed partnership aligns with Husseini’s calls for film festivals to offer filmmakers practical industry opportunities beyond networking.
Husseini has urged Nigerian festivals to become marketplaces where filmmakers can secure distribution deals and build commercial relationships.
This year’s festival theme is “Frames Without Borders: AI, Ethics, and the Future of Filmmaking.” Festival director Temitope Duker said filmmakers could not afford to ignore the technology’s growing influence on the industry.
“We don’t have a choice, to be honest,” she said.
Festival founder Fidelis Duker said the event is driven by “what the filmmakers are trying to do for themselves.”
Organisers say more than 90 films from over 120 nations are represented at the festival, which runs from October 20 to 24.
