African Currents

Africa's First Feature Film on AI: Ushering in Revolutionary Era for Continent's Cinema

17:00, 14 November 2025
Chimauchem Nwosu
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Through the fusion of creativity and artificial intelligence, African filmmaking is embracing a transformative era, where the enduring power of local storytelling converges with pioneering cinematic advancements.
Sputnik
African cinema has come of age. Evolving from modest beginnings, it is now a vibrant force capturing global attention through its creativity, storytelling, and cultural resonance. Nollywood, in particular, has emerged as one of the world's largest film industries. It produces thousands of films annually, shaping the continent's cinematic identity with stories that reflect both local realities and universal themes. Through pioneering digital production, breaking distribution records, and gaining recognition at international festivals, Nollywood has proven that African stories have a powerful voice on the world stage while retaining their distinct perspective.
Building on this legacy of innovation, Makemation marks a historic milestone as the first African feature film centered on artificial intelligence. The film follows a brilliant young girl from rural Lagos whose ingenuity drives her to tackle challenges through technology. Blending humor, empathy, and high-stakes innovation, the tech-themed family movie is a beacon of African creativity and technological vision. It showcases how imagination meets algorithm, tradition embraces transformation, and ancestral wisdom is woven into futuristic dreams.
To unpack the layers of this groundbreaking project, African Currents interviewed its executive producer, Dr. Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji. Leveraging her unique dual expertise in cinema and AI for development, she provided a detailed analysis of the production's innovative approach, its core themes of ingenuity and cultural heritage, and its strategic role in positioning Africa at the forefront of technological storytelling.

"For us to be able to simplify a complex phenomenon like artificial intelligence, a film is the fastest way to do that [...]. A film is a combination of entertainment and thought leadership. So people are getting entertained, but they're also learning in the process. And that's why the idea of Makemation came to life in my mind. Makemation means the making of automation, and basically the evolution of how automation, animation, and the use of frontier technologies and filmmaking should happen in Africa and around the world [...]. So it's not just a story about AI. It's not just a film that was made with AI; it is actually a narrative that is meant to empower young people and open their eyes to how technology can actually solve our local problems," Dr. Akerele-Ogunsiji noted.

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