The Nigerian Film Corporation has confirmed the return of the Decasia Heritage Film Festival to Lagos. The four-day cultural event is scheduled to take place from Sunday, July 27, to Wednesday, July 30, at the corporation’s office in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Decasia 2025 is a collaborative project between the Nigerian Film Corporation, the Lagos Film Society, and several renowned German institutions, including the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Arts in Berlin, the Deutsche Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, DAAD, and the Goethe-Institut Lagos. The festival focuses on rediscovering, preserving, and creatively reimagining Africa’s cinematic heritage.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr. Ali Nuhu, stated that the festival will serve as a crucial meeting point for filmmakers, archivists, historians, scholars, and other cultural stakeholders.
A statement released by the corporation’s Director of Public Affairs, Brian Etuk, highlighted that the program will feature screenings of rare archival films, panel discussions on preservation strategies and cultural memory in national development, and networking sessions designed to encourage policy dialogue.
Dr. Nuhu explained that this year’s edition will also provide a platform to discuss the draft National Film Archive Policy and emphasise the need to protect Nigeria’s audiovisual heritage in a digital age.
The festival will address the influence of digital technologies on preservation and explore the relationship between film archives and festivals. A key goal of Decasia is to raise the profile of Nigeria’s National Film, Video, and Sound Archive as the country’s leading audiovisual repository, while strengthening ties with academic institutions such as the National Film Institute and the University of Jos, which offers a Master’s program in Film Culture and Archiving Studies.
By engaging filmmakers, government agencies, private organisations, and the general public, Decasia 2025 aims to build lasting frameworks for audiovisual preservation and expand the impact of cultural diplomacy.
First launched in Lagos in 2019 as the Berlin-Lagos Archival Film Festival, the festival’s 2020 edition was held in Berlin under the theme “Reclaiming History, Unveiling Memory.” Its 2025 return to Lagos underscores Nigeria’s commitment to heritage preservation, archiving skill development, and international cultural exchange.
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