The jury praised The Spectacular Death of Prisca for its blend of melodrama, action, and comedy, as well as its distinctive approach to family dynamics.
By Joseph Jonathan
Nigerian filmmaker Kaelo Iyizoba’s The Spectacular Death of Prisca has received an Honourable Mention at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which has announced its winners following the conclusion of its 2026 edition.
The film, directed by Iyizoba, was recognised in the Short Cuts programme, which celebrates international and Canadian short films across narrative, documentary, and animation categories. The jury praised The Spectacular Death of Prisca for its blend of melodrama, action, and comedy, as well as its distinctive approach to family dynamics.
Iyizoba is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and former pharmacist whose work frequently explores questions of identity, belonging, and the Nigerian experience. A graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Film programme, he is a Berlinale Talents fellow and has previously directed shorts including Boy Meets Girl (2021) and Before We Fall Asleep (2026).
The Spectacular Death of Prisca represents a particularly personal turn in Iyizoba’s filmmaking. The 23-minute short grew out of his longstanding interest in the Nollywood films he watched while growing up, particularly the melodramatic, colourful and often larger-than-life cinema of the 2000s. The film follows Prisca (Rita Dominic), a divorced woman in her fifties whose daughter is preparing to get married. After a confrontation with her daughter, Prisca escapes into an imagined Nollywood universe where she becomes Madam P, the leader of an all-female criminal syndicate.
The short also serves as a proof of concept for Iyizoba’s planned feature, A Nollywood Story. The filmmaker developed the project after spending several years working on a feature version of the story, eventually using the short to establish the visual and tonal world of what he calls his “Nollyverse.” The Spectacular Death of Prisca was developed through the 2025 TIFF Directors’ Lab and shot shortly afterwards.
The Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film went to Elia Kalogianni’s MAMMALIA, a Greece-Netherlands production. Michael Del Monte’s Fight Kid won Best Canadian Short Film, while Into The Betaverse, directed by Varun Raman and Tom Hancock, received Best Animated Short Film.
Elsewhere, India’s Angh, directed by Theja Rio, won the Platform Prize, which comes with a $20,000 CAD cash prize. The film’s victory also gives it a direct pathway into the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards, under TIFF’s eligibility arrangement for the Platform Prize.
The festival’s top audience honour, the People’s Choice Award, went to Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra, with Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky and Siân Heder’s Being Heumann named first and second runners-up, respectively.
Simon Stone’s Elsinore won the International People’s Choice Award, while Barry Avrich’s Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been was named the People’s Choice Documentary winner. Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney took the Midnight Madness award.
Other major honours included the FIPRESCI Prize for David Turpin’s Ancestors, the NETPAC Award for Hosam Abu Dan’s Palestinian film Thirteen in Gaza, and the Best Canadian Discovery Award for Cody Lightning’s Smudge the Blades.
The Spectacular Death of Prisca was one of three Nigerian-linked highlights at TIFF this year, following the film’s selection for the Short Cuts programme. Its Honourable Mention further places Iyizoba among the emerging filmmakers receiving international recognition at one of North America’s major film festivals.