Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has challenged young Nigerian filmmakers to explore overlooked aspects of the country's history, culture and everyday experiences as it opens entries for the 2027 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, with a $20,000 award at stake.
The competition, themed ‘Nigeria Unseen’, will reward documentary films that bring lesser-known Nigerian stories to wider audiences and offer fresh perspectives on familiar subjects.
NLNG’s Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku, announced the development in a statement on Monday.
The competition, which follows its inaugural edition in 2026, is open to Nigerian filmmakers aged 18 to 35, irrespective of their country of residence.
Speaking on the initiative, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, said the prize was designed to recognise local creative talent and encourage filmmakers to tell stories that deepen public understanding of Nigeria.
“Our support for The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts reflects our confidence in Nigerian talent and our recognition of the work that goes into making good, structured content,” she said.
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Horsfall noted that documentary filmmaking required time, research and patience to understand subjects before presenting them to audiences.
“With ‘Nigeria Unseen’, we are encouraging filmmakers to pursue stories that deserve closer attention and tell them with care,” she added.
She said the company wanted the prize to give outstanding productions recognition and introduce audiences to aspects of Nigeria they might not otherwise encounter.
To strengthen the competition's administration, NLNG has appointed a three-member Advisory Board comprising award-winning filmmaker and producer Femi Odugbemi as chairman, journalist and broadcaster Kadaria Ahmed, and documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson.
The board will provide strategic direction, oversee the prize's administration and protect the independence and integrity of its judging process.
Odugbemi said the theme offered filmmakers an opportunity to examine familiar environments and subjects from perspectives audiences might have overlooked.
“‘Nigeria Unseen’ does not necessarily mean travelling to a remote place or finding a subject that has never been filmed,” he said.
“It may mean looking again at something we pass every day and asking questions we have never thought to ask.”
He urged entrants to go beyond identifying unfamiliar subjects and establish why their stories mattered.
According to him, successful documentary filmmaking requires research, access and the trust of the people whose lives are being documented.
“We encourage filmmakers to test their assumptions and give the people in their films room to speak for themselves,” Odugbemi said.
He added that filmmakers must ensure their production and editing decisions reflected the complexity of the experiences they documented.
“A film should leave viewers with more than the knowledge that a place or a way of life exists. It should help them understand the people whose lives it portrays,” he said.
Odugbemi, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zuri24 Media, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and co-founder of the iREP International Documentary Film Festival.
He previously served as pioneer Academy Director of the MultiChoice Talent Factory in West Africa.
Ahmed, who is Executive Director of Daria Media and Managing Director of Radio Now 95.3 FM, previously worked as a senior producer at the BBC and editor of NEXT newspaper.
Benson is known for documentary and immersive storytelling. His virtual reality documentary, Daughters of Chibok, won the Venice Lion for Best Immersive Story at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival.
He also co-directed Madu, which won the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary award at the 2025 News and Documentary Emmy Awards.
The submission portal for the competition will open on February 1, 2027, with entries closing at 11:59pm West African Time on April 30.
Submissions must be made through FilmFreeway, and eligible documentaries must have been produced between January 2026 and April 2027.
The films must also have a maximum running time of 20 minutes.
The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts is part of NLNG's wider commitment to recognising excellence, alongside The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation.
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