RMD, Femi Adebayo and AFRIFF’s eleven masterclasses offer a practical map of filmmaking

Richard Mofe-Damijo and Femi Adebayo are among the practitioners named in AFRIFF’s eleven-session masterclass and workshop programme for its 1–7 November 2026 Lagos edition. The official listing says the sessions are free, with registration required. It also offers a useful picture of how many different decisions sit behind the finished film an audience watches.

The names may attract attention, but the spread of disciplines is the programme’s more lasting lesson. Acting and producing appear alongside directing, cinematography, animation, costume, makeup and editing. For an emerging filmmaker, that range suggests a practical way to diagnose a project: identify the decision that is failing before assuming the answer is a more expensive camera or a more famous actor.

Start with a scene that is difficult to make

Consider a simple hypothetical exercise: two siblings disagree in a kitchen before one leaves home. The script may occupy only a page, yet it requires a series of connected choices. Where does each person stand? What can they hear? Which objects matter? Does the departing sibling leave during the argument or after a silence? The scene becomes film through decisions that several departments must understand together.

A useful learning goal is therefore narrower than wanting to make a better movie. Choose a problem that can be demonstrated. Perhaps both actors deliver the lines clearly, but the emotional change is hard to follow. Perhaps the scene makes sense while being filmed but becomes confusing in the edit. A focused question gives a workshop discussion something concrete to address and makes any answer easier to try afterwards.

Acting begins with what one person wants from another

AFRIFF lists an acting masterclass with Mofe-Damijo and an actors’ workshop with Hilda Dokubo. Those two sessions invite attention to performance as a craft that can be examined, rather than a quality someone either possesses or lacks. The published listing names the facilitators; it does not publish a detailed curriculum, so the following questions are suggestions for preparation.

In the kitchen exercise, ask each performer to identify what the character wants the other person to do before the scene ends. “Be sad” is an emotional instruction; “persuade my sister to stay” creates an action directed at another person. Rehearsing with that difference in mind gives the actors something to pursue and the director something specific to observe.

Another useful question concerns listening. If the character receives unexpected information, when does that information change the next response? Watching that moment can reveal more than judging whether a line sounds dramatic. It also connects performance to editing, because a reaction may carry the meaning even while another person is speaking.

Producing turns intention into an achievable plan

Femi Adebayo is named for a producers’ masterclass. Applied to the same small scene, producing questions include whether the kitchen can be controlled for sound, whether its owner permits the intended hours and whether the available time allows for rehearsal as well as filming. A plan that budgets only for recording the lines may leave no room to discover a better version of the scene.

These questions are creative as well as logistical. If the location becomes unavailable after sunset, a scene written for night needs a decision before the actors arrive. Changing the setting may affect costume, light and the story’s sense of urgency. The producer’s work helps those consequences become visible while they can still be managed, instead of leaving every department to improvise separately.

AFRIFF also lists a session called “From Idea to the Screen” with Banwo & Ighodalo. Its presence beside the craft sessions is a reminder to examine the route from a promising concept to a film that can actually be completed and shown. Attendees should consult the session’s own description for its precise scope rather than assume the title guarantees individual advice on a project.

Directing and cinematography need a shared question

The programme names Angel Kristi Williams for directing and Kirby Griffin for cinematography. A useful bridge between the two disciplines is the question of whose experience the audience should follow. In the kitchen scene, placing the camera near the sibling who intends to leave may emphasise escape; staying with the person left behind may emphasise loss.

That does not mean either position has one fixed emotional effect. It means the team needs an intention that can be tested. A wide view might show the physical distance between the siblings; a closer view might reveal a hesitation. Recording several versions without understanding their purpose can consume time while leaving the editor to solve an uncertainty that began much earlier.

For preparation, a few drawings can be more useful than a collection of expensive-looking reference images. Mark where each person starts and ends, where the camera could stand and which movement must remain understandable. The drawing exposes practical problems before lighting or equipment choices make them harder to change.

Costume and makeup help the audience read continuity

Yolanda Okereke is listed for costume design, while Alakpa Uduoghene is named for makeup. Their place in the programme highlights details that audiences may understand instantly without consciously noticing. A character who has packed to leave, changed for work or spent the night awake can carry that information into the scene through appearance.

The same choices create continuity obligations. If the departing sibling removes a jacket midway through the argument, every camera angle must be usable within that action. A close photograph and a written note can record which hand holds it and where it lands. The purpose is not paperwork for its own sake: it protects the editor’s ability to join performances without an unexplained visual jump.

Animation, AI and editing each require decisions about meaning

AFRIFF names Esther Kemi Gbadamosi for animation, Obinna Okerekeocha for AI filmmaking and Steve Sodiya for film editing. These are distinct practices. The presence of new tools does not dissolve the central question of what an image is meant to communicate, while editing remains a place where duration and relationships become legible.

An animation exercise might simplify the kitchen scene to movement and timing before adding detail. An experiment with generated imagery might ask whether the result preserves a character or setting consistently enough for the intended sequence. Neither exercise needs to begin with a claim that one method will replace another; it can begin with a specific storytelling problem and an observable result.

For editing, try one version that cuts immediately after an accusation and another that waits through the listener’s reaction. Compare what each version allows the audience to understand. This is a small, repeatable experiment, and it produces a more useful discussion than declaring that a scene simply needs to be faster.

Use the festival’s different opportunities deliberately

The industry programme places the second AFRIFF Film & Content Market on 2–5 November, with a remit covering financing, sales and coproduction. A craft workshop and a market meeting serve different purposes. One can improve a decision within a film; the other can concern how a project is financed or reaches an audience. Bano Studios’ October guide also separates these access routes.

Anyone using the November programme should confirm the remaining dates and registration availability directly with the festival. The durable value of the line-up is its map of connected responsibilities: a clear acting intention needs a workable production plan, a visual approach needs continuity, and an edit needs material that expresses a choice. Leaving a session with one decision to test can be a meaningful result, even before a new film is ready to announce.