ENTERTAINMENT
50 Years Later, In The Same Hall Built For FESTAC ’77: Afreximbank Finally Puts Money Behind Film About FESTAC ’77
Fifty years ago, Nigeria built the National Theatre to host FESTAC ’77, the biggest celebration of Black culture the world had ever seen.
On Friday, inside the Banquet Hall of that same building, a bank finally put money behind a film telling the story of what happened behind the scenes.
The film is 77: The Festac Conspiracy, the sequel to the acclaimed 76, still showing on Netflix. The money is from CANEX Creations Incorporated (CCI), the commercial subsidiary of Afreximbank’s $2 billion creative industry fund.
Executive Producer Prince Tonye T. J. T. Princewill, Chairman of the Board of Adonis Production, signed the agreement with CCI at the ongoing 2026 CANEX Weekend in Lagos. CCI CEO Osahon Akpata described it as “a film Africa can be proud of” and pledged his team’s full support to the film.
He urged other filmmakers to emulate Adonis Production in aiming for excellence.
Princewill thanked the CCI team for their show of faith in investing in 77 and promised to give them reason to do more investments like this.
“Adonis Production focuses on true stories because Africa has so much truth to tell. Reality is stranger than fiction. This building, our Festac village were both inspired by that Festival of Arts and Culture and I feel honoured that 50 years later, we will get to be celebrating it with our film”, Princewill said.
The signing ceremony took place at the Banquet Hall of the National Theatre and the signatories were joined on the stage by the Executive Vice President of Afreximbank Mrs. Kanayo Awani who also doubles as Chair of the CCI board.
The deal fits exactly what Vice President Kashim Shettima said at the opening of CANEX Weekend 2026, that in 1977, we came to celebrate our culture, and in 2026, we come to capitalise it.
Afreximbank has committed $2 billion to Africa’s creative industries, and this 77 deal is one of the first headline film deals to come out of CANEX 2026.
77: The Festac Conspiracy is out in cinemas early 2027, just in time for the 50th anniversary of FESTAC ’77.
