It is with great honor that I announce that FROM THE MARGINS WHERE CHANGE BEGINS has won its first international award, taking home the Best Short Doc Award of this year's edition at the MegaCities-ShortDoc Film Festival in Paris, France 🇫🇷 It is currently amongst the Top 15 Official Selection that will be screening at the festival and coming to the Cannes Film Festival Positive Cinema Week.
I am proud to have a very supportive team I call friends who gave their best for this short documentary and this is a testament of collective strength merged with powerful storytelling and youth agency. I also extend great appreciation to the Youth Civic Online Engagement hosted by @camilacocina that brought out these important questions of how young people are excluded from the urban process. This engagement was a learning opportunity for me and many young people from different countries as it added to the knowledge of engagement and urgency of youth participation for the change we desire. Also to James Tayler who constantly pushed and checked in if I joined this engagement from the first day.
It’s been quite a journey last year for me, and I dedicate this win to all the communities that are still resilient, my fellow storytellers who continue using storytelling and art as a medium of resistance to cause change in their own way, and finally to my Dad, Mr Okechukwu (I promised to dedicate any first award after his passing to him).
I hope this inspires more stories reaching platforms that amplifies the cause for a more inclusive city and world as a whole.
FROM THE MARGINS WHERE CHANGE BEGINS will be having various screenings globally after Paris, I'll share list of events as they go. Congratulations 🎊🎉💐
Director: Samuel Okechukwu
Co-Director: @milan_documentaries
Camera operators: @sams_documentaries@milan_documentaries@dee_jay_hi_man
Sound: @yahya_muyinat@milan_documentaries
Field Assistant: @meekun_ayo
Drone: @mat_cerf
Drums (Ejin Bata): @iam_peterbata
Editor: @sams_documentaries
Assistant Editor: @milan_documentaries
Community Mobiliser: Oliver Atinkpo, @milan_documentaries@yahya_muyinat
Sound design: @sams_documentaries
I am truly honored to have had my photo session in the space that has featured these icons and hosted incredible Getty Images moments at the RedSea Film Festival. Photographed by the amazing Tristan Fewings, this experience has been incredibly inspiring — I’m still in awe after just seeing the images. I usually prefer being behind the camera, but Fewings made it easy to express myself in front of it. Thank you, REDSEA, for hosting The Legend of The Vagabond Queen of Lagos 👑
The Toronto International Festival Festival @tiff_net was a magical, overwhelming, insightful and a learning experience.
Seeing other films and meeting amazing people I can't say thank you enough.
The world premiere of our film The Legend Of The Vagabond Queen Of Lagos here shows so much possibility and promise for the future.
#AgbajowoCollective #Tiff #LVQ #Toronto
Seeing that the AMVCAs is today, I just realised I didn't post photos of this experience. This platform, this stage, for a film we always call our baby, a first time feature. We poured so much in the making, from script to shooting, and I can only be proud of everything it has achieved. It shows possibilities of stories from the margins can also make the biggest film stages on the continent.
The Legend Of The Vagabond Queen Of Lagos taking home Best Cinematography Award at the last edition, on behalf of Leo Purman. I am proud of this family and even though there's been so many ups and downs, we're taking initiative, showing up more, and I believe this has been a learning process for us all and an opportunity to come back even stronger and better!
@africamagic
#AMVCA #STORYTELLING4CHANGE #LVQ
This is a short Visual Monologue of the dreams we carry and the person we’re all trying to become.
The Art of Becoming — teaser.
#Storytelling4Change #documentary #visualmonologue #film
Some on field test for this shot. This was a beautiful shoot with my oga dem @milan_documentaries and @iamkalama showing culture and lifestyle from the Lagos perspective.
#Lagos #bts #Culture #DocumentaryFilmmaker
TNR Exclusive 🎬
In an exclusive with The Nollywood Reporter, Samuel Okechukwu reflects on the global impact of his documentary From the Margins Where Change Begins following its Best Short Documentary win in Paris.
Read the full interview via the link in bio.
/y4vfn5ns
#TNRExclusive #NigerianDocumentary #AfricanCinema #FilmFestival #Storytelling
We know about the Yellow Buses aka Danfo. But here's 1 minute of how using the Red bus in Lagos feels like.
I find it quite interesting.
Should I make a longer piece of this?
#Lagos #Storytelling #people #Redbus #Transport
This is one of the things many of us in different fields always struggle with. Beautiful ideas dying because it never started, or something beautiful that started but never got finished.
The support system is when we push each other to actually achieve those things and JUST DO IT.
Save this as a constant reminder.
Send this to someone who needs to JUST DO IT 🫠😊
#Storytelling #explorepage #motivational #justdoit #create
As we celebrate World Water Day, we are reminded that water is life here—where joy, care, and culture unfold daily. But beyond its beauty, it becomes a silent witness to displacement, as communities built around it are reshaped and erased not by nature alone, but by human decisions.
#Storytelling4Change #PVMondayWaterDay #worldwaterday @unuehs
The actors, directors, and creatives behind these beautiful stories didn’t just entertain — they broke ground, proving that Nigerian stories could resonate locally and inspire globally. Their work shaped the narratives, aesthetics, and professionalism we see in the films of today, from storytelling structure to production quality.
The Nigerian cinema during this time showed how powerful media can be, a huge influence to how we relate to each other, how we even think, all the way to the teachings and messaging they come with.
A heartfelt thank you to these legends and all the talent who brought these unforgettable stories to life. Your artistry continues to influence new generations of filmmakers, and your impact will echo for decades.
#NollywoodLegends #CinematicHeritage #OldNollywood #LegacyOfFilm
Because people who loves this said I shouldn't hide it on my story, so saving it here for now.
Sharing beautiful stories ❤️✨
#Storytelling4Change #Family #Home #cinematic
