The film discussion held in the film room with Sade Adeniran, Bolaji Kekere-Ekun and Gordon Napier on panel. It was anchored by TJ Benson.

TJ opened the discussion by asking Gordon about the background to his film, 1745: An Untold Story of Slavery. He said it was made in response to Scotland’s reluctance to admit its role in slave trade, and the fact that there seemed to be an erasure of slave trade activities in cinema, especially when compared to America.

TJ went on to ask Sade why she chose animation for her work and what the process was like. She responded by saying she decided on animation because she felt she wanted to do something different, to have the Nigerian story on sketch animation.

TJ complimented the team crew of each film and asked how they sourced them. Bolaji said networking helped. Gordon said the sisters in his film are sisters in real life; they were able to utilize that dynamic. Sade shared her background as a story writer – she has won the 2008 commonwealth prize for a novel with her debut, Imagine This – and spoke about getting an animator and a sketch artist.

The session ended with members of the audience asking for general advice on becoming filmmakers and the consensus of the panelists was the same: identify the kind of stories you want to tell and be patient.