Discover how Screen in Transit uses free screenings across Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Benin to build an accessible Community around African cinema in Nigeria.
For Nigerian film lovers looking beyond multiplexes and streaming platforms, Screen in Transit offers another route into African cinema: free, recurring screenings in shared cultural spaces. The nomadic micro-cinema collective currently operates across Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Benin, creating a four-city Community around film discovery and filmmaker-audience engagement.
Its October 2026 collaboration with Fatherland Productions strengthens that discovery model with a programme led by Lizard, directed by Akinola Davies Jr., and Harmattan, directed by Muyiwa Awosika. Wider city listings also feature Jean-Michel Tchissoukou’s La Chapelle and, at selected screenings, Jenrola Lawore’s Cynthia Is a Fxxking Bitch.
A recognised short film leads the programme
Lizard provides the programme with an internationally recognised centrepiece. The film won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, giving audiences an opportunity to encounter an acclaimed work in a free communal setting.
That combination matters. Festival recognition can help audiences identify films worth seeking out, while free local exhibition removes a financial barrier that may prevent viewers from exploring independent or less commercially available African work.
Why the four-city model stands out
Screen in Transit identifies itself as a Nigerian film club and nomadic micro-cinema collective dedicated to democratising African cinema. Rather than concentrating its activity in Lagos alone, it works with cultural venues in Abuja, Kaduna and Benin as well.
For Nollywood Spotlight readers, the model presents a useful alternative to the usual paths of cinema release, television and YouTube distribution. YouTube has made Nigerian films easier to discover across borders, but physical screenings can offer something digital viewing cannot fully reproduce: a room of viewers responding together and opportunities for direct engagement with filmmakers.
How to attend a Screen in Transit event
Registration pages linked to the programme list admission from ₦0. However, dates displayed across the collective’s website, partner listings and registration platforms are not fully consistent for every city. Prospective attendees should therefore consult Screen in Transit’s official website and the latest live ticket page before making plans.
More importantly, the collective’s archive shows that this is not simply a one-off October event. Its recurring mix of contemporary, historical and independent African films suggests an exhibition network taking shape—one that gives audiences more ways to discover African screen stories while giving filmmakers another place to meet the people watching them.
Join the conversation
Would you attend more African film screenings if free community cinema programmes were available in your city?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Sources
Source links used to research and verify this article:
Screen in TransitScreen in Transit — Fatherland Productions Partnership
Sundance Institute
Ketro
Goethe-Institut Nigeria
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