By Nehru Odeh
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has fulfilled its promise to announce the $20,000 Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, a new addition to the Nigeria Prizes family, with a special focus on documentary filmmaking. NLNG announced the new prize at a press conference held on Friday, 31 October 2025, at the Marriott Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.
The Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, chaired by Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, will administer the new category. She will be supported by Emeritus Professor Olu Obafemi and Professor Ahmed Yerima.
The judging panel will be chaired by Dr. Sam Dede, a veteran actor, director, and senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt. He will be joined by Adeola Aderonke, an award-winning film director, art historian, scriptwriter, and producer, and George Ugwuja, a renowned film producer who has delivered high-quality work for international organisations.
The theme for this inaugural edition is Identity. The prize cycle will end in October 2026 with the announcement of the final verdict at the Grand Award Night, sponsored by NLNG.
An interesting feature of this new prize is that it targets young Nigerian filmmakers aged 18–35, challenging them to explore memory, interrogate experience, and translate reality into meaning through the art of documentary storytelling.
The prize, which will make its debut next year, aims to inspire youths to tell the Nigerian story and redefine the nation’s image. It is open to Nigerians anywhere in the world.
The Call for Entries has been scheduled to open in February and close in April 2026. The prize aims to nurture a new generation of storytellers who will celebrate Nigeria’s identity and reshape global perceptions of our nation through creativity, authenticity, and truth-telling.
It would be recalled that NLNG’s Managing Director, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, first made the prize known to the public in October 2025.
The company also stated that the prize will challenge young Nigerians to produce documentary films that celebrate the nation’s identity and reshape global perceptions of Nigeria through information, creativity, and visual excellence.
Speaking at the event, Sophia Horsfall, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, NLNG, explained that the initiative reflects the company’s deep commitment to nurturing creative capital as part of national development.
“The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts is an invitation for young Nigerians to own their narrative, to show the world our complexity, our brilliance, and our resilience through film. This prize symbolises NLNG’s belief that storytelling is nation-building — that every frame, every voice, and every perspective matters in shaping who we are and who we aspire to be,” Horsfall said.
“The rationale for establishing this prize is simple, yet profound: to recognise, celebrate, and reward outstanding Nigerian creatives; to provide visibility and support for both contemporary and traditional art forms; to strengthen national and international recognition of Nigerian culture; and to support the growth of Nigeria’s creative sector — one of the most dynamic sectors of our economy today,” Horsfall added.
She emphasised that the initiative bridges Nigeria’s dynamic youth population and the broader creative industry, strengthening the nation’s voice globally while promoting unity and understanding through storytelling.
“We believe this prize will inspire a new generation of filmmakers who will inform, challenge, and connect us more deeply to who we are as a people. It holds the potential to become Africa’s leading platform for creative arts, fostering a new wave of cultural thought leaders and building a rich archive of prize-winning works that will stand as part of Nigeria’s enduring cultural legacy.
“In a world where stories shape perception, this prize affirms that Nigeria’s narrative should be told by young, bold, imaginative Nigerians. Through them, we can reshape how the world sees us and how we see ourselves,” Horsfall maintained.
Professor Adimora-Ezeigbo noted that the prize marks a significant milestone in NLNG’s over two-decade journey of celebrating excellence across disciplines.
“The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts is a reaffirmation of our belief that excellence knows no boundary. It can be written, spoken, or filmed. It asks its creators to confront truth, explore memory, and translate experience into meaning,” she said.
She emphasised that the prize aligns with the overarching strategy of the prizes to reward excellence.
“The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, with a focus on documentary filmmaking, stands as a reaffirmation of our collective belief that excellence knows no boundary. It can be written, spoken, or filmed. This new prize challenges our young documentary filmmakers to explore memory, interrogate experience, and translate reality into meaning,” she stated.
Joel Benson, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and Technical Advisor to the Advisory Board, stated that the prize would be benchmarked against international film festival standards, ensuring that winning entries can compete globally. He added that the creative energy of Nigeria’s youth deserves a platform that matches its ambition.
Benson further explained that only short documentaries of no more than 20 minutes will be accepted in the inaugural edition, adding that entries will be judged on storytelling craft, originality, production quality, and creativity, among other metrics.
Benson also spoke on the theme of the inaugural edition, Identity. “This year’s theme, Identity, invites Nigerian filmmakers to use the genre of documentary film to explore who we are — as individuals, communities, and cultures — and how that shapes the way we see the world.
“The prize is interested in stories that reflect on belonging, transformation, heritage, and self-definition — whether personal, social, political, artistic, or spiritual. Your film might examine how identity is formed, questioned, celebrated, or even lost.
“There’s no single interpretation we’re looking for. Identity can be as intimate as a personal portrait or as expansive as a collective story. It could be expressed through place, language, faith, memory, gender, or something entirely different.
“What matters most is authenticity — how your documentary captures the truth of what identity means in your chosen context.”
Benson described the new prize as a defining moment and urged all filmmakers to seize the opportunity. “Participate. Create. Tell your story. Show the world who we are. I look forward to an incredible inaugural cycle,” Benson said.
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