‘Wake the Flies’ Clinches Best Student Film at 23rd Abuja International Film Festival. In a major victory for activist filmmaking, Wake the Flies, a harrowing documentary exploring decades of communal violence and humanitarian fallout in Jos, Plateau State, clinched the coveted Outstanding Student Film award at the 23rd Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF).
The award ceremony, held today October 25,2025. on Sunday night at the conclusion of the festival’s run from October 20 to 25, 2026, brought together leading voices across African and international cinema.
Directed and co-produced by Longgul Makpring Dakwom, Lena trupher alongside Lawuna Yilwada, Wake the Flies was backed by Germany’s Hesse film & Medien grant. The production stood out among an international field of nominees representing France, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and the Russian Federation. The 26-minute documentary delves into the human cost of the recurring ethnic religious crises and targeted attacks that have plagued Jos and rural communities across Plateau State.
Combining archival documentation, drone footage, and deeply personal survivor testimonies, the project confronts issues of displacement, institutional failure, and the urgent need for trauma healing.
Dakwom has previously reflected that the documentary’s motif originated from witnessing violence firsthand during his university years in Jos—an image of flies gathering over fallen victims that came to represent the grim permanence of unaddressed trauma in the region.The festival jury commended the filmmakers for balancing rigorous historical context with raw cinematic storytelling, elevating a regional crisis into an urgent human rights narrative.The recognition at AIFF caps an impactful festival run for Wake the Flies, following international screenings in Frankfurt and extensive community engagements across central Nigeria aimed at fostering dialogue, remembrance, and reconciliation.
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