#RANKED – Our Favorites from the Accelerate Film Maker Project Short Films

The Accelerate TV Filmmaker project launched early last year and was open to entries from budding filmmakers across the country. In collaboration with the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), a selected few would be mentored and trained on filmmaking and given a sizeable budget to create their own short films. These films were then premiered at AFRIFF and pushed at various other film festivals.

The films from all five filmmakers that made it to the end have now been published on the Accelerate TV YouTube channel and are available for all to view. We watched all five of them and it was a joy to watch. It’s a joy to know that Accelerate TV gave an opportunity to these young people and gave them exposure that they otherwise may not have gotten. It’s a joy to realize that there’s ample talent hiding in Nigeria. And it was also a joy to watch many of these shorts.

The shortcomings of these films were few and far between but also seemed consistent across the board especially with the lighting of many of the scenes. Many of the shorts used a lot of dark scenes and not all of them were able to light it successfully. Regardless, the most important thing about a film is its story and all of these had a story to tell, and they were all impressive in different ways.

Having said that, here’s our RANKINGS OF OUR FAVORITES.

#5. BLACK by Joshua Olanrewaju

When she is attacked in her office, an ordinary girl must fight extraordinary odds with ordinary tools if she hopes to live.

Black plays out like a public service announcement. It is swift, it is straight to the point, the choreography could have been better but for a first timer it’s impressive.

#4. XOXO by Priye Diri

An Army wife cheats on her husband and is being blackmailed on the day of his return.

After the conclusion of this short film, I had to rush to the comments to make sure that everyone else got the same meaning from this as I did. The beauty of this one is not so much in the storytelling but in the pacing and the actress’ ability to carry it all on her own. By the time the ending comes around, it does leave an incomplete taste in your mouth but it also isn’t required to do much more because the message has been sent.

#3. GOODWILL by Mannie Oisemoaye

The reading of a man’s will to his two children, in conjunction with the events surrounding his death, reveal the kind of father he truly was.

It’s the set up of this one that really gets you. At first you think you have it pegged (like the #3 video) but then the story unfolds into something much more than you previously imagined.

#2. TANWA by Adenike Adebayo

Tanwa, convinced that her life was in danger, decided to take matters into her own hands.

Tanwa was interesting in a different kind of way. You think that you know what it is about but it was about more than that. It’s number two on our list because of the twist in the story and the delivery of said twist, it’s use of lighting and music to switch up the mood and the message it delivers at the end.

#1. PENANCE by Michael Akinrogunde

What happens when a priest also has something to confess at penance?

This was our favorite for varying reasons. It was immersive from start to finish, the performances drew you in and the storyline was legitimately intriguing. The filmmaker had a purpose and knew how to achieve those results and it showed forth in the final work.