Filmmakers Dika Ofoma and Blessing Uzzi make their mark as the only Nigerians chosen for the Locarno Film Festival African-Focused Open Doors Project in Switzerland.
“Kachifo” Selected for Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors Program
Nigerian filmmakers Dika Ofoma and Blessing Uzzi have been chosen to represent the country at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival’s African-focused Open Doors Project.
The festival recently unveiled its Open Doors Projects lineup, marking the start of an ambitious four-year focus on African cinema. Among this year’s selected works is “Kachifo (Till the Morning Comes)” by Ofoma, who is set to make his feature directorial debut with the film, produced by Uzzi under the Bluhouse Studios banner. Their selection places them among six bold and distinctive projects in development for the 78th edition of the festival, scheduled for August 6 to 16, 2025, in Switzerland.
“Kachifo”— a reincarnation romance—was first conceptualized as a short story during Ofoma’s time at university. Years later, after shifting to filmmaking, the narrative evolved into a screenplay. The filmmaker credits the film’s development to long hours of scripting between 2023 and 2024 and a creative collaboration with Uzzi that began in 2022.
“Kachifo” is among a distinguished selection of films at a festival celebrated for its daring curatorial approach. This lineup includes the Congolese documentary “Les Bilokos (Bilokos),” directed by Erickey Bahati and produced by Giresse Kassonga for Gikas Films; the documentary-animation hybrid “Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre (Diary of a Goat Woman),” a collaborative production between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, led by director Azata Soro and producer Nameita Lica Toure (Les Studios Indigo); the Ethiopian dark comedy “The Fortunate,” directed by Habtamu Gebrehiwot and produced by Nahusenay Dereje (MTF Multimedia); the Senegalese wrestling family drama “Lutteurs (Fighters),” by director Alassane Sy and producer Jules Dieng (Thiely Films); and the Zimbabwean supernatural mystery “Black Snake,” directed by Naishe Nyamubaya and produced by Sue-Ellen Chitunya (263 Reels Productions).
Locarno Open Doors, which launched in 2003 in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), supports filmmakers from regions where cinematic expression faces structural or political challenges. Its 2025 edition begins a new cycle focused on Africa and includes projects from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Nigeria.
The Open Doors Projects, Producers, and Directors initiatives offer co-production pitch sessions, career development workshops, public screenings, and networking opportunities—taking place online in June and July, and in person from August 7 to 12 during Locarno Pro, a parallel program of the Locarno Film Festival.
Through “Kachifo,” Ofoma and Uzzi make their international debut while also joining a rising movement of African filmmakers reshaping storytelling according to their own vision.