The 2026 iRep International Film Festival at the weekend witnessed a historic moment with the screening of Gateway City: Badagry-The Future of Lagos.
The Film Producer/Director and Festival Director Badagry International Film Festival, Mr Viyon Awhanse, in a statement said the documentary serves as a blueprint for Intelligent Creativity.
Awhanse said the documentary had rapidly evolved from a film project into a national movement, garnering over four million views following a high-impact digital session with Arise TV’s Rufai Oseni.
The screening attracted personalities and intellectuals in the creative sector such as Ali Baba (Comedy Legend and Social Commentator), former Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism Steve Ayorinde, and Co-Founder, iRep, Makinde Soyinka.
Others are renowned filmmaker, Femi Odugbemi; Culture Communicator, Jahman Anikulapo; Dean of Arts and Humanities, NYU Abu Dhabi, Prof. Awam Amkpa; Dean of School of Tourism, Film, Performing Arts and Culture Studies, LASU, Prof. Tunji Azeez; and television film producer, Henry Alabi.
Representing the grassroots and administrative heart of the project was the Badagry Local Government represented by Prince Seyon Akran, the Supervisor for Tourism and Creative Economy.
Akran presence underscored the project’s alignment with local governance and the preservation of Lagos’ coastal heritage.
Awhanse said that the documentary film had successfully moved Badagry from the periphery of discourse to the center of the future of Lagos.
With over four million organic views and the validation of the nation’s creative elite, the SMA Movement, under Dr Samuel Mawuyon Ajose, is proving that cultural preservation is the ultimate political and social capital.
The production team and the SMA Movement wish to extend a special thank you to the iRep leadership and the entire festival community.
“Our unwavering support and the prestigious selection of Gateway City: Badagry have provided the vital platform necessary to spark this national conversation. This collaboration is making a profound, measurable impact on the preservation of our heritage.
“The SMA Movement continues to leverage this Digital Explosion to position Badagry as a global tourism hub and a pillar of the Lagos State developmental agenda,” he said.
Awhanse, however, said that the documentary would also be submitted to international festival platform, national and international television platforms in due course.
