By Janet Oyeleye
The 2026 Korean Film Festival in Abuja has placed Nigerian filmmakers at the centre of Korea–Nigeria cultural diplomacy, with locally produced short films drawing on Korean culture to tell distinctly Nigerian stories of resilience, family, love, grief and survival.
The three-day festival, organised by the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria (KCCN), is holding from September 17 to 19 at Silverbird Cinemas, Abuja, bringing Korean feature and short films together with works by emerging Nigerian filmmakers.
Beyond exposing Nigerian audiences to the depth and diversity of Korean cinema, the festival is providing a platform for Nigerian creatives to engage with Korean culture and reinterpret it through their own lived experiences.
A major attraction is the screening of winning entries from the inaugural KCCN Short Film Contest, which drew 21 entries from across Nigeria.
First Prize went to Lagos-based filmmaker Maryam Abiola for Too Loud, a 10-minute fiction film examining emotional abuse, resilience and a young woman’s journey towards independence. Inspired partly by the resilience of the Haenyeo, the female divers of Jeju Island, the film weaves a Nigerian personal narrative with an element of Korean cultural heritage.
Second Prize was won by Jude Francis Terkuma of the Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, for Unspoken, a romantic drama about two university friends struggling to express their feelings. The film incorporates Korean pop culture while exploring friendship, vulnerability and love.
Opara Barbra Ifeoma of Abuja emerged third with I’ll Do It For You, which follows a young woman preparing to travel to Korea on a scholarship linked to a culture cherished by her late mother. Through Korean music, food, language and cultural experiences, the film explores grief and embracing a cultural legacy left behind by a loved one.
Two other Nigerian productions received Special Mentions.
MARKED, a documentary by ThankGod Amah of Lagos, explores identity, survival and resilience through the experiences of a young girl affected by hardship, spirituality, illness, poverty and family instability.
I No Be Ashawo, a drama by Buari Olalekan of Lagos, examines childhood neglect and abuse and how difficult experiences shape survival choices later in life. Told in Pidgin English with English subtitles, the film seeks to provoke conversations around child protection, accountability and community responsibility.
The inclusion of Nigerian productions alongside Korean films underscores KCCN’s emphasis on a two-way cultural relationship, where exchange is not limited to introducing Korean works to Nigerians but also creates opportunities for Nigerian creativity to interact with and reinterpret Korean cultural experiences.
The festival opened on Thursday with the Nigerian premiere of The King’s Warden (왕과 사는 남자), a 2026 historical drama directed by Jang Hang-jun. Set in 1457, the film tells the story of deposed King Danjong during his exile and has recorded substantial commercial success in South Korea. Figures from the Korean Film Council show that by September 3, 2026, it had recorded 16,921,889 admissions across 2,262 screens, generating approximately $120.39 million in box-office revenue.
Friday’s programme featured The Book of Fish (자산어보), directed by Lee Joon-ik, and Move the Grave (이장), directed by Jeong Seung-o.
The Book of Fish (2021) centres on scholar Jeong Yak-jeon, exiled to Heuksan Island during the Joseon era, who develops an unusual friendship with a young fisherman through an exchange of knowledge.
Move the Grave (2020) follows four estranged sisters who reunite after learning that their father’s grave must be relocated due to a modernisation project. Their search for their brother becomes an exploration of family, memory and unresolved relationships.
The festival concludes today, Saturday, with a showcase of the KCCN Short Film Contest winners and selected Korean short films, followed by the screening of Lucky Chan-sil (찬실이는 복도 많지), directed by Kim Cho-hee.
Through the initiative, KCCN is using cinema as a platform for deeper people-to-people engagement between Nigeria and South Korea, particularly among young people, students, filmmakers and cultural enthusiasts.
It is holding at Silverbird Cinemas, 1161 Memorial Drive, by Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Central Business District, Abuja.
With Nigerian filmmakers now telling local stories through creative encounters with Korean culture, the festival is emerging not merely as a showcase of Korean cinema but as a platform for cultural dialogue where audiences and creatives from both countries meet through film.
