AIHRFF announces 4th edition, focuses on global patterns of rights abuse, urges action
By Editor
THE Africa International Human Rights Film Festival (AIHRFF) is set to host its fourth annual event from Monday, December 8, to Wednesday, December 10, 2025, in Lagos, Nigeria. The 2025 festival, operating with the theme ‘Using Films to Bridge Divides,’ aims to expose global patterns of human rights abuses and galvanize concerted efforts against these trends. The three-day event will feature keynote addresses, film screenings, panel sessions, special appearances, masterclasses before coming to a close.
The announcement, made via a statement released by the Communications and Strategy Lead for the Human Rights Journalists Network (HRJN), the umbrella body for the Africa International Human Rights Film Festival, Shakirudeen Bankole, said the festival activities will span three days across two primary locations with Monday, December 8 and Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 1A, Adekunle Owobiyi Close, Opposite Government Quarters Estate, Ogba Phase II, Lagos State. These sessions will feature frontline activists, filmmakers, journalists, regulators, and policymakers.
The second venue for film screenings is scheduled for Freedom Park, Lagos, from 3:00pm to 7:00pm on both days. And on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 it will be Masterclasses and Closeout Session at British Council, 20 Thompson Avenue, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos. The closeout session is scheduled to coincide with the annual commemoration of United Nations Human Rights Day, marking the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
As a Continental Convergence for Justice, the founder and Festival Director of AIHRFF, Comrade Kehinde Adegboyega, described the event as the biggest convergence on the continent for human rights activists, filmmakers, and stakeholders who are dedicated to using their skills and voices to amplify issues of global abuse. The abuses highlighted by the festival include but are not limited to police brutality, official corruption, abuse of office, the weaponization of poverty and social amenities, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), the repression of freedom of expression, criminalization of peaceful protests, censorship of the free press, and rising authoritarianism.
Stressing the nexus between filmmaking as an activism tool, Comrade Adegboyega emphasized the unique role of human rights films, stating, “Unlike conventional filmmaking, the creators of human rights films are activists and development advocates who are helping to expose and illuminate dark places where unfathomable human rights abuses are taking place.”
He noted that audio-visual storytelling is critical for justice, as it provides “the most reliable and vivid way to document human rights abuses. It is self-evident, and incontrovertible.” AIHRFF’s Masterclasses are designed to expand the ecosystem of civil and rights advocates by passing down this vital knowledge to existing practitioners, enthusiasts, and students. The films contribute significantly to evidence collection and the promotion of prosecutorial justice against perpetrators.
