By Ijendu Iheaka
Aba (Abia) Dec. 20, 2025
The Director, Training, Abia International Film Festival (ABIFF), Victor Nwankwo has said that the festival was instituted to improve the quality of the art of filmmaking and to honour Abia Film Makers.
Nwankwo disclosed this in Aba on Saturday while speak with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that since a considerable number of film producers and directors in Nollywood were Abia-born practitioners, the festival was planned to honour them at home and improve their art.
“Without exaggeration, I will tell you that Abia has the highest percentage of the filmmakers in Nollywood. A whole lot of them have not been home for over 20 years.
“What you see today is like homecoming for most of them. They have seen how things are and we are using this festival to bring back the African cultural heritage.
“This festival will project us to the world. I see a new version of Nollywood emerging from here (Abia) soon.”
Uzodimma Okpechi, a Cineastes and renowned film producer commended the festival’s organisers and the Abia government for creating the enabling environment for the event to hold.
He said that the festival would create room for improvement of the filmic art in Nollywood.
He said that although he had not been to Abia in 20 years, he had seen new things already being put in place to support such a major event.
‘I’m happy to be home and from what I’m seeing, here is not different from any other city in Nigeria and you can see that when the government creates enabling environment for things to thrive, they will.
“If you build it, people will come. I believe that knowledge will be impacted here because there is a constellation of people in the industry coming here. Film is a global language,” Okpechi said.
Veteran actor, producer and director, Ejike Asiegbu described ABIFF as homecoming for him.
He said the festival is a sign of purposeful leadership by Gov. Alex Otti whom he said had made Abia a state everyone is proud of coming, and returning, to.
Asiegbu said Abia which has a great number of filmmakers, has not been benefiting from their expertise and experience because of many years of unserious governance which left the state comatose.
“There is no gainsaying that what has made the majority of us avoid coming home for movie production here is the insecurity we have had in the past 24 years.
I am an Abia son who grew up here in Aba, and I must say that for the past 24 years, Aba was a no go area.
“I grew up here before the war. However, I am glad that this is happening in our own time. So, we have come to put all our experiences and expertise to take Abia State to greater heights,” he stressed.
He said that the practitioners would soon bring back film shooting to Abia because of the supportive creative environment which would reduce unemployment.
Asiegbu said that with Otti’s kind of governance, it is time for the industry to take advantage of that and go ahead to lead the sector from Aba.
“Bringing film production back to Abia will help the state and the country at large,” he pointed out.
