Joseph Jonathan

Finding Optel
“Finding Optel” Review: A Tender, Uneven Portrait of Ordinary Lives and the Quiet Radicalism of Small Stories

At a time when African cinema often feels pressured to either moralise or monumentalise, Finding…

Dodo Ikire
“Dodo Ikire” Review: Abdulafiz Opeyemi Shittu’s Ode to the Women Feeding a Nation

What Dodo Ikire ultimately captures, perhaps unintentionally at first, is how deeply entrenched women are…

Thinline
“Thinline” Review: Nollywood’s Dangerous Blind Spot on Male Sexual Assault and the Illusion of Morality

Thinline is a mirror of how deeply entrenched gendered assumptions still shape Nollywood storytelling. By…

memories
In Absence, You Find Presence: What “My Father’s Shadow” Taught Me About Remembering

Remembering isn’t just about freezing time, it’s about letting memory evolve, the way grief turns…

Nollywood
Nollywood and Its Complicated Relationship with the Oscars

Whether or not an Oscar ever comes, Nollywood’s challenge is to chart a path that…

talking stage
Neither Here nor There: The Talking Stage as Nigeria’s New Relationship Culture

The talking stage, in all its messiness, is Nigeria’s new relationship culture. Neither here nor…

Nollywood
30 Nollywood Films That Explore African Spirituality and Tradition

Across generations, these films have returned to the same core questions: Who are we? What…

The Serpent’s Gift
“The Serpent’s Gift” Review: Kayode Kasum’s Film Is Undone by Shallow Cultural Detail

If The Serpent’s Gift had one lesson for Nollywood, it would be that cultural truth…

Say Who Die
“Say Who Die?” Review: Paul Utomiʼs Film Crumbles Under the Weight of its Own Ambition

Style without story is a hollow exercise, and Say Who Die? ultimately exposes Nollywood’s recurring…

Devil is a Liar
“Devil is a Liar” Review: Moses Inwangʼs Film Lies About the Story It Is Telling

The execution of Devil is a Liar is formulaic, recycling tropes we have seen countless…