Five documentary filmmakers have emerged as finalists for the maiden edition of the Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts (NPCA), narrowed down from an initial longlist of eleven that itself was drawn from 98 submissions nationwide. Sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) and launched in October 2025, the $20,000 prize sits alongside The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Science as part of NLNG’s broader investment in Nigerian cultural output, and marks the company’s first venture into recognizing young Nigerian documentary filmmakers specifically.

The shortlisted works are Peter Oghenetega Oke’s Beyond Tarkwa Bay, Feranmi Abiola’s Mara Mania, Ummi Bukar’s No Food for Lazy Man, Abraham Ayodele Aiwuyuse’s Okrika, and Jessica Chinyere’s Women of Salt: The Resilience of Ebonyi’s Women. All five emerged from an inaugural call built around the theme “Identity,” inviting filmmakers aged 18 to 35 to interrogate Nigeria, its people, and its evolving sense of nationhood through documentary storytelling.

Each film approaches that mandate from a distinctly different corner of the country. Oke’s Beyond Tarkwa Bay follows a teenage surfer navigating both his passion for the sport and the slow destruction of homes in his Lagos waterfront community. Aiwuyuse’s Okrika, also known by its fuller title Okrika: Second Lives, traces the connection between the Rivers State town and the Nigerian slang term for imported secondhand clothing, digging into the history and culture behind the trade. Chinyere’s Women of Salt turns its attention to Ebonyi State’s traditional salt producers, using their labor to explore questions of livelihood and resilience; the film previously screened at the 2024 Eko International Film Festival. Bukar’s No Food for Lazy Man and Abiola’s Mara Mania round out a shortlist that, taken together, reflects a striking range of Nigerian experience, from coastal erosion to market culture to inherited trades.

NLNG’s Managing Director, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, has framed the prize as part of the company’s belief that storytelling is not merely entertainment but a form of empowerment, one that helps build nations and preserve culture. The five finalists now head into final adjudication ahead of NLNG’s Grand Award Night in October 2026, where the winner will become the first-ever recipient of The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts.