'Black Book 2' Headlines African Works-in-Progress Slate at TIFF's First Market Edition

Source: magnific.com

Six African works in progress have been selected for buyers screenings at TIFF: The Market, with Editi Effiong's 'The Black Book 2: Old Scores' leading a slate assembled by CANEX Creations Inc. for the inaugural edition of the market. The original film reached No. 3 on Netflix's global charts, cracked the top 10 in 69 countries, and accumulated more than 20 million views worldwide, figures that give the sequel's market debut a commercial backdrop few African works in progress can claim.

CANEX and TIFF Open a New Market for African Film

CANEX Creations Inc., the equity-investment subsidiary of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and a pan-African investment platform, serves as an official partner of TIFF: The Market. The market's first edition runs September 10 through 16, with the CANEX works-in-progress screenings scheduled for 11 a.m. on September 12 at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 7.

The six projects on the slate were not self-submitted or editorially curated by CANEX alone. An independent international jury, drawing on experience across production, distribution, international sales, festivals, and African and global film markets, made the final selections. That jury structure is part of what CANEX CEO Osahon Akpata has framed as a commitment to market-readiness rather than symbolic representation.

"We are particularly proud that these projects were selected by an independent international jury with deep experience across production, distribution, international sales, festivals and African and global film markets," Akpata said.

The objective, he added, is direct: "African cinema is gaining greater visibility on the world's leading festival stages, with compelling work emerging from an increasingly broad range of countries. Our objective is to help translate that creative momentum into commercial opportunity by putting market-ready projects in front of the buyers, distributors and financiers who can take them to global audiences."

Streaming Performance and the Competition for Idle Time

The editorial team at Cryptoplinko, which covers digital entertainment and the attention economy, notes that the stakes framing 'Black Book 2' extend well beyond which buyers make offers in Cinema 7. Once a title lands on a streaming platform, it enters a broader contest for finite downtime, competing not only against other films but against every small, immediate digital pull a viewer might reach for instead. A crypto plinko game is exactly that kind of few-minutes-at-a-time online play drawing from the same idle window a viewer might otherwise spend queuing up 'Black Book 2.' The original film's ability to draw more than 20 million views globally demonstrates that African-led storytelling can claim that attention at scale. The credentialed filmmakers now entering the TIFF slate alongside Effiong, including a Rotterdam prize-winner making her fiction debut, suggest the pipeline is deepening rather than narrowing.

“African cinema is gaining greater visibility on the world's leading festival stages, with compelling work emerging from an increasingly broad range of countries.”

Six Films, Three Countries, a Decade of Festival Credentials

The slate spans Nigeria, Cameroon, and South Africa, representing a geographic range that reflects the continent's broader creative output rather than concentrating on a single industry hub.

Cyrielle Raingou, whose documentary 'Le Spectre de Boko Haram' won the top prize at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2023, brings her fiction debut 'I'm Coming for You' to the market. Damilola Orimogunje's 'Dear Ajayi,' meanwhile, carries the distinction of being the first Nigerian film to screen in the Venice Film Festival's Venice Days strand, a selection that positions Orimogunje among a generation of Nigerian directors now operating at the level of Europe's most competitive festival programs.

The slate also includes 'Last Weekend in October,' a documentary by Nigerian filmmaker Nosarieme Garrick set during Lagos Fashion Week that examines ambition, identity, and the mechanisms that determine visibility within Nigeria's fashion industry. South African writer-director Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt brings 'Not God's Plan,' and Cameroon's Arice Siapi contributes 'The Motorcycle Smuggler.' CANEX's institutional track record adds context to the selection: the company previously backed 'Clarissa,' which premiered at Cannes.

The Muganga Screening Signals CANEX's Broader Ambitions

Running parallel to the WIP slate is a separate buyers screening that signals the scale CANEX is operating at beyond works still in development. On September 11 at 9:45 p.m. at the John Bassett Theater, CANEX will screen 'Muganga — The One Who Treats,' an advocacy-driven drama directed by Marie-Hélène Roux and co-produced by Angelina Jolie. The film draws on the true story of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege.

The post-screening conversation is equally high-profile. Dr. Mukwege will appear alongside actors David Oyelowo and Danai Gurira, with British writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch moderating. That combination of subject matter, talent, and institutional backing positions the Muganga event as a distinct commercial signal, separate from the WIP slate but reinforcing the same core argument CANEX is making at the market.

That argument, as Akpata has framed it, comes down to translation: converting the creative momentum African cinema has built on festival stages into real commercial opportunity by ensuring the projects reach the buyers and financiers who can carry them to global audiences.