Locarno 2025: Open Doors Celebrates Africa, Spotlighting Emerging Filmmakers

Open Doors’ ultimate goal is to foster a more collaborative, borderless global film community while strengthening the sustainability of independent cinema.

Since 2003, this initiative has supported filmmakers in regions where independent production faces significant challenges, building bridges across continents. Through its public and professional programs, Open Doors creates a nurturing space for talent at every stage of their creative journey—a forum where free expression fuels debate and reinvents contemporary cinema.

Spotlight: Ema Edosio Deelen (Nigeria)

We spoke with Ema Edosio Deelen, a Nigerian filmmaker celebrated for her visually expressive storytelling exploring identity, resilience, and the human spirit. Founder of City Gates Film Production—a studio dedicated to bold, character-driven narratives—Deelen’s debut feature Kasala! (2018, not 2028) screened at over 30 international festivals, winning nine awards for its vibrant portrayal of youth and class dynamics.

Her follow-up, Otiti (2022), premiered at the Brazil African Film Festival, lauded for its sensitive exploration of fractured family bonds and redemption. Trained in cinematography and directing at the Motion Pictures Institute of Michigan, Deelen’s visual language is honed through years as a video journalist for BBC, Vice, and Bloomberg.

Her latest film, When Nigeria Happens (2025), made history as Nigeria’s first contemporary dance drama. Its sold-out world premiere opened Open Doors’ 2025 program. The film follows Lagos dancers navigating their leader Fagbo’s personal turmoil. Post-screening, Deelen reflected on funding challenges: “I raised the money myself and made it—I refused to spend a decade chasing grants.”

In Locarno, she discussed her filmography, struggles for financing, Nigerian women’s realities under juju traditions, and her upcoming fourth project.

 Interview with Ema Edosio Deelen:

 

Spotlight: Yasir Faiz (Sudan)

We also met Yasir Faiz, a Sudanese cultural manager-turned-filmmaker. Raised in Iraq until age 20, he worked as a journalist in Sudan for a decade before transitioning to cinema. His short film Bougainvillea (2024, premiered 2025 at Locarno) spotlights women detained during Sudan’s 2018 revolution.

Faiz co-scripted the award-winning short Journey to Kenya (2020) and served as second unit director for The Dog’s Shitter (2019). His cultural programs across Sudan, Egypt, and Ukraine (including Tandem residencies) preceded his 2023 escape from Khartoum’s warzone to Kenya.

 

Now rebuilding in Nairobi, Faiz champions film as “a tool for survival and national healing.” Bougainvillea honors Sudanese women’s resilience, solidarity, and role in preserving society amid conflict. Despite previous visa denials for festivals, he emphasized his gratitude: “Locarno granted my first visa—grazie!”

He shared insights on Sudan’s crisis, universal gender equality, cinema as resistance, and his Kenyan co-production exploring Sudanese identity in exile.

Interview with Yasir Faiz:

 

Firouz E. Pillet, Locarno

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