Lights, Camera, Africa! Returns to Lagos After Six Years
Following a six-year absence, the African cultural festival Lights, Camera, Africa! is returning to Lagos with a new edition titled “Convivium: In Gathering.” The three-day event will be hosted at the MUSON Centre in Lagos, spotlighting cinema, critical dialogue, and musical performance from across the continent and the global diaspora.
The programme will commence on Thursday, 1 October, opening with a reception, a headline film screening, and panel discussions featuring directors and creators. Following the daytime presentations, the schedule will shift into an evening of music and communal gathering, placing live sound and social interaction at the heart of the festival experience.
Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue and Independent Film
Festival organizers designed “Convivium: In Gathering” as more than an exhibition of motion pictures, framing the event as a communal space dedicated to focused attention, shared reflection, and dialogue. The lineup will feature both short films and full-length feature projects, accompanied by director Q&A sessions designed to engage the audience directly.
Discussions across the three days will explore central themes affecting contemporary African life and artistry, including migration, collective memory, cultural identity, and homecoming. Panels will also examine urban dynamics in the African metropolis, structural models for independent filmmaking, and methods for documenting and preserving regional stories for future generations.
Among the confirmed titles on the screening schedule is director Matias Mariani’s 2020 feature Shine Your Eyes, a film that previously screened within the Panorama section of the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. The inclusion highlights the festival’s ongoing commitment to presenting works that bridge continental narratives with diasporic viewpoints.
For African creatives, the intersection of film, score, and live performance at such multi-arts festivals provides a valuable environment for interdisciplinary collaboration. By integrating music and film showcases under one roof, gatherings like Lights, Camera, Africa! continue to offer independent sound practitioners and screenwriters vital platforms for creative exchange and audience engagement within Lagos.
Source: Afrocritik