The first edition of Visions is free and open to the public and will take place at Alliance Française, Port Harcourt, on 15th November, 2025, at 3pm WAT.
By Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku
A new film society, Visions, has officially launched in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with a mission to spotlight cinema from Africa and Latin America, two regions often overlooked in global film discourse. Through curated screenings, themed discussions, and supplementary materials, Visions seeks to create a community of cinephiles eager to explore stories that reflect shared histories and cultural intersections.
Founded by London Film Academy-trained Nigerian independent filmmaker, Olohije Oyakhire, Visions will host screenings of films made by and centred on Africans and Latin Americans, prioritising works that remain largely unseen or inaccessible to audiences. In addition to screenings, each session will offer attendees screening notes, reading lists, and watchlists of films from Africa and Latin America that relate to the discussion theme.
For Oyakhire, the goal is to make room for films from these regions that are yet to reach wider audiences. “There are far too many African and Latin American films that people have not heard of, let alone seen, and if Visions can get even one person to see and discuss these films, that is a major win for me,” says Oyakhire in a statement shared with Afrocritik.
The inaugural edition of Visions, themed “Narratives of Journeys” will be hosted in Port Harcourt, in collaboration with Art in the Garden City and Alliance Française, Port Harcourt. “Having the first screening in Port Harcourt is significant,” Oyakhire notes. “It is where I’ve called home for almost two decades. There’s untapped potential in this city that I hope to unearth through this film society.”
The first screening will feature two titles: Journey Mercies (2023, United Kingdom), a short film directed by Tomisin Adepeju, about a UK-based library cleaner planning a final return to Nigeria, his birth country; and Chez Jolie Coiffure (2018, Belgium/Cameroon), a feature documentary directed by Rosine Mbakam, set in a hair salon in the African Matonge district of Brussels, where customers gossip and share difficult stories of immigration. The selected films explore different perspectives of migration and belonging, resonating deeply with contemporary global realities.
Both films have enjoyed a strong presence on the international film festival circuit. Journey Mercies screened at BAFTA-qualifying festivals such as Aesthetica Film Festival and London Short Film Festival, as well as Film Africa Film Festival, where it earned a nomination for the Baobab Short Film Award. On the other hand, Chez Jolie Coiffure has screened at prestigious events including the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), AFI Docs Film Festival, AFI Fest, and the New York African Film Festival.
As a film society that values not only films made locally but also films that connect African audiences to parallel stories across the Global South, Visions represents an important step in the evolving movement towards more inclusive film spaces in Nigeria. By highlighting African and Latin American films, the initiative underscores the shared histories and identities that shape the cinematic expressions of both regions.
The first edition of Visions is free and open to the public and will take place at Alliance Française, Port Harcourt, on 15th November, 2025, at 3pm WAT.