NLNG opens call for entries: 2027 $20,000 Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts‎

‎Nigerian filmmakers aged 18 to 35 can now compete for $20,000 in the 2027 Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, and Confiance News has learned the theme is “Nigeria Unseen.”
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• ‎NLNG opens entries for the $20,000 Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts 2027, themed “Nigeria Unseen”

• ‎Femi Odugbemi, Kadaria Ahmed and Joel Kachi Benson named to the new Advisory Board

• ‎Submissions open 1 February 2027 and close 30 April 2027 on FilmFreeway
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‎Nigerian filmmakers have been handed a fresh challenge: show audiences the Nigeria they rarely see on screen. Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has opened entries for the 2027 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, according to a statement sighted by Confiance News.
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‎The new theme
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‎The cycle is themed “Nigeria Unseen.” It calls for documentaries that spotlight lesser-known stories of Nigerian life and revisit familiar subjects through overlooked perspectives, including everyday experiences that seldom reach the screen.
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‎Who can enter
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‎The competition returns after its inaugural edition in 2026, carrying a prize of US$20,000. Confiance News confirmed from the statement that it is open to Nigerian filmmakers aged 18 to 35, regardless of their country of residence.
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‎Advisory board named
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‎Meanwhile, NLNG has appointed a three-member Advisory Board to steer the Prize and protect its standards. Award-winning filmmaker and producer Femi Odugbemi will chair the Board. Journalist and broadcaster Kadaria Ahmed and documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson will serve as members.
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‎What the board does
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‎The Board will set strategic direction, oversee the administration of the Prize and safeguard the integrity of its adjudication. Its mandate, as learned by Confiance News, stresses originality, artistic quality and compelling storytelling. It also aims to keep the competition transparent, independent and responsive to Nigeria’s evolving creative sector.
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‎What NLNG said
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‎Sophia Horsfall, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, said the new edition builds on the company’s backing for Nigerian creative talent. She added that the Prize seeks to recognise the quality of Nigerian filmmaking and to encourage work that deepens public understanding of the country and its people.
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‎”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. Documentary filmmaking demands time, research and the patience to understand a subject before presenting it to an audience. With ‘Nigeria Unseen’, we are encouraging filmmakers to pursue stories that deserve closer attention and tell them with care. We want the Prize to give outstanding work the recognition it deserves and introduce audiences to aspects of Nigeria they may not otherwise encounter,” she said.
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‎Odugbemi’s advice
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‎Odugbemi, who chairs the Board, noted that the theme gives entrants wide freedom in choosing a subject. He urged filmmakers to think beyond what their films will reveal and consider how their treatment of a subject can deepen an audience’s understanding.
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‎”‘Nigeria Unseen’ does not necessarily mean travelling to a remote place or finding a subject that has never been filmed. It may mean looking again at something we pass every day and asking questions we have never thought to ask. An unfamiliar subject is a starting point, but the filmmaker still has to find the story and establish why it matters. That requires research, access and the trust of the people whose lives are being documented.
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‎”We encourage filmmakers to test their assumptions and give the people in their films room to speak for themselves. The choices made during filming and editing should do justice to the complexity of their experiences. 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,” Odugbemi said.
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‎Board members’ records
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‎Together, the three appointees bring experience across filmmaking, journalism, creative education and media leadership, the statement obtained by Confiance News shows.
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‎Odugbemi is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zuri24 Media and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also co-founded the iREP International Documentary Film Festival and served as the pioneer Academy Director of the MultiChoice Talent Factory in West Africa, where he helped train a new generation of filmmakers.
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‎Ahmed is Executive Director of Daria Media and Managing Director of Radio Now 95.3 FM. She is a former Senior Producer at the BBC and a former Editor of NEXT newspaper. Her work across print, radio and television, including interviews and presidential debates, adds weight on editorial integrity, public engagement and socially relevant storytelling.
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‎Benson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker known for 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 took the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary award at the 2025 News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
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‎Key dates and rules
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‎Importantly for entrants, the submission portal opens on 1 February 2027. Entries must be submitted through www.filmfreeway.com before 11:59 p.m. WAT on 30 April 2027. Eligible films must have been produced between January 2026 and April 2027 and must not exceed 20 minutes.
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‎For the full Call for Entries, including eligibility criteria, film specifications and submission requirements, filmmakers can visit www.thenigeriaprizes.org.
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‎About the Prize
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‎The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts recognises Nigerian filmmaking talent and the role of documentary film in recording the country’s stories. Alongside The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation, it reflects NLNG’s commitment to rewarding excellence in the arts and sciences.
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‎The statement was signed by Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku, Manager, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, NLNG.
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