📢 Exciting news!!
Along with six other artists (all about half my age 😅), I have been invited to join The Guild under the umbrella of Arts Collective (formerly NN Contemporary). The programme runs from March to December 2026, and includes artist professional development via 1:1 mentoring, shared studio space, opportunities to engage with the community and collaboration with other artists. I was excited enough to be awarded the opportunity and even more so after meeting the other artists at the induction day today - what an enthusiastic group of people! I'm just so chuffed... 😀
Radiant yellows from our Official Selection: bright, bold storytelling.
Screen your film at Aesthetica Film Festival 2026.
Submissions are now open on FilmFreeway – link in bio.
Featuring: 'Notes from Planet 3', 'Baby', 'Sh*tfly', 'El Regresso', 'SAMSA', 'We Will Be Who We Are', 'What the Hat', 'Good Game', 'Are You F***ing Kidding Me', 'How Wonderful', 'The Perfect Dinner', 'Icon', 'Original Sin'
"Considering this is a story about young women that are being exploited and extracted from within the visual realm ... we really wanted to create a visual aesthetic that disrupted how easily their bodies could be consumed by the viewer."
Simisolaoluwa Akande @simi.notes and Scarlett Gardner @scarlettgardner_ discuss their film 'Baby' which won Best Cinematography at Aesthetica Film Festival 2025.
In a fluorescent pink wig and an unflinching smile on her socials, Baby sells an airbrushed life in Europe to entice young Nigerian girls. Behind the filtered posts, there lies a more harrowing truth.
Take a look at all our 2025 winners at link in bio.
🎄🎄In need of a last minute xmas present? Not sure where to start with giving to charity? 🎄🎄
@hafiz_onitolo and I have partnered with @restlessbeings on a limited 2026 calendar.
ALL proceeds go towards urgent humanitarian work this winter:
1. Medical and food aid in Sudan
2. Education and psycho-social support for Rohingya women and children in refugee camps in Bangladesh
Buying a calendar for your home or office - or gifting one in the spirit of giving - is a simple way to make real impact 💖
Each month features an original drawing by one of our amazing friends which will be a year-long reminder of your contribution.
It will be a collective effort to sell all 100 copies in time for the new year. Every. One. Counts.
LINK IN BIO! A HEARTFELT THANKS 🙏🏼 🤶🏻
BFI London Film Festival 2025.
Had the time of my life being a little fish in this big beautiful pond.
Thank you so much to the shorts programming team (Sky and Victoria), and also to the huge machine that makes a festival like this possible.
Thank you to the cast and crew for taking an idea that started three years ago and creating something so achingly beautiful, I am so grateful to each and every one of you.
And thank you for anyone who has shown support, either at the screenings or watching online (or sending lovely messages even if you haven’t been able to watch).
Until next time 🤍
Also special shoutout to Aesthetica and the prize for Best Cinematography, so grateful for accept it on behalf of our amazing DoP Scarlett x
I’m so honoured that ‘Baby’ was awarded for Best Cinematography at Aesthetica Film Festival 2025.
When Simi and I were preparing for Baby, I remember her saying to me, ‘If she could shoot the whole thing on a VHS camera, she would.’ This set a precedent for my approach to our workflow.
We were interested in embracing technical inconsistencies, errors, and ruptures to create imperfect imagery that subverts the need for visual clarity. Influenced by the profound narrative of two sisters navigating situations of degradation and sex work, we created a visual language that embraces overexposure and shadows to resist the voyeuristic gaze that objectifies and sexualises victims of sex trafficking.
I shot the film on an Alexa Mini in Super 16 mode on S16 Ultras provided by @panavisionofficial . I pushed my ISO between 1600/2560 to maximise grain.
@simi.notes you are a true pleasure to colloborate with.
And a big big thank you to my team on this one @georgiefen@roisins_hard_drive@benhovington@jehawk_@el.neagu@dani_simone_r@thomaskumeling
And thank you to @panavisionofficial for providing the camera equipment.
@asffestival
✨✨✨
Mad Girl Launch! 🚀 Thank you to everyone who came, we are so grateful for all the support and love we received! The evening was such a special moment for us - launching mad girl productions, premiering our short Rotten and celebrating an incredible lineup of female filmmakers hosted by the incredible @temi.wilkey 💥 It was electric and we can’t wait to bring you what’s next. 💥
A big thank you to our friends at @slydogrum@candykittens@jamm_chefs@proper for supporting 💥
📸 @elmithead
Artwork @sarahirner
#film #womeninfilm #launch #madgirlproductions #shortfilms #femalefilmmakers #tvandfilm #production #creatives #madgirls #london
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF ‘BABY’ at @britishfilminstitute 69th London Film Festival
Baby is officially out in the world, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s honestly a special one for a multitude of reasons.
Most importantly, our hope is that the film amplifies the voices of those facing adversity — advocates for those silenced by the oppressors who stand on the backs of these women’s sacrifice and hardship, as they remain fervent in their battle against exploitation. The respect and gratitude I have for these women is insurmountable. Thank you for sharing your stories with us, I hope we did you proud, and made you feel heard, seen and respected. Thank you to the MIST charity for your openness to us, I hope we exemplified the reality of those living within the world of trafficking. We stand with you.
To the cast and crew, your love and kindness throughout was what made this film possible.
To our wonderful director @simi.notes and incredible writer, @mojola.ak , thank you for your trust in me to care for Adesuwa, it was a privilege.
Special thanks to @bfinetwork / @networkfhm + @elevenfilmltd ! And to the dynamic duo, our producers @marauder.pictures (@jammedjj and @josephbushell ) for your encouragement and speaking life into us.
Thank you God! 🙏🏿
🫂♥️💫
#LFF #BFI #BABY
‘Baby’ premieres at the London Film Festival 2025
This project is filled with such incredible, kind, wonderful talented people!
It was such a joy to work on and off screen on this film.
We’re so proud to announce the world premiere of our BFI X ELEVEN FILM X Marauder picture short film ‘BABY’ at the 69th BFI London Film Festival.
We can’t wait to share our ‘BABY’ with the world.
DIRECTED: Simisolaoluwa Akande | @simi.notes
WRITTEN: Mojola Akinyemi | @mojola.ak
PRODUCED BY: Maxine Gordon | @jammedjj
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
BFI Network | @bfinetwork | @networkfhm
Eleven film | @elevenfilmltd
Marauder Pictures | @marauder.pictures
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | @josephbushell
STARRING:
Mamley Djangmah |@mamleydjangmah
Jadesola Odunjo|@jadeodunjo_
Kemi Adekoya | @KemiAdekoya_
Nasa Ohalete | @nasaohalete
Featuring:
Mevis Birungi| @mevcreative
Modupe Adeyeye | @mvngobest
Arnold Chukwu |@arnold.chukwu
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY:Scarlett Gardner| @scarlettgardner_
EDITOR: Clare Maleeny | @claremaleeny
SOUND EDITOR & SOUND MIXER: Joseph Field Eccles | @field.eccles
MUSIC COMPOSER: Tope Olufemi | @culturalwerker
FIRST AD: James Cleave |@jamescleavedirector
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Menelik Simpson |@maws_03
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR: Ruari White | @ruari_white
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Fiorella Pomarino Dextre|@fiorellapomarino
COSTUME DESIGNER: Nanaama Zie |@nanaamazie
MAKEUP & SPECIAL EFFECTS: Abigail Alexander & Kym Menzies-Foster |@abigailalexander_mua & @kymmenziesfoster
Hair Stylist: Zsuzsanna Rapi| @its.me.zuzu
1st ASSISTANT CAMERA:Roisin Byrne |@roisins_hard_drive
2nd ASSISTANT CAMERA: Ben Hovington |@benhovington
GAFFER: Georgie Fenny |@georgiefen
SPARK: James Hawkins & Emanuel Neagu |@jehawk_ & @el.neagu
SOUND RECORDIST: Liam Bratchford |@l_bbratch
PRODUCTION DESIGN ASSISTANT: Lucy Martin |@hotgluewithlucy
PRODUCTION DESIGN RUNNER:Pharrell Jarrett | @pharr3llj
COSTUME SUPERVISOR: Glow-Anne Crawford |@glowcrawford
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST : Lexie Wyn | @lexieee
Colour House: DOMA | @doma.works
Colourist: Thomas Kumeling | thomaskumeling
And so many more…
As I slowly come back into the outside world following major spinal surgeries, I have never been more focused in how I spend my energy. This morning, I got to see a pre-preview of @simi.notes glorious film baby: BABY (2025) . We were all physically possessed by this work, by this filmmaker, equally confident in narrative and poetic pacing. @mamleydjangmah and @jadeodunjo_ had me crying before 11 am on a Wednesday. #MojolaAkinyemi script crackled with believability and sensitivity. @jammedjj at @marauder.pictures is such a powerhouse, clearly. Attending with @deja.ch , my producing partner on a different project, we most certainly rejoiced in the onstage line-up (pic 2) . V grateful to @elevenfilmltd for knowing what I like and extending the invitation. What a way to re-enter London 💗
Screening of Baby
Director: Simi @simi.notes Producer: Maxine Gordon @jammedjj@marauder.pictures
“The reason that we’re here today… it’s a short film… it’s a lot of work… and not a lot of money… we did it for love… and we got it into the London Film Festival”
Marauder Pictures
