Nigerian film, Daughters of Chibok – a Virtual Reality (VR) based documentary – has won the best story award at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy.
The documentary produced by a Nigerian firm, VR 360, was the only film from Africa selected to compete with 12 others from across the globe.
VR 360 was one of the 25 innovative ventures selected from 1,500 applications to benefit from mentorship at the Yola Humanitarian Innovation Hub established by the Nigerian government in 2018.
The documentary film, which features the suffering of mothers since the abduction of their daughters at a Chibok school by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014, was adjudged the best story and crowned with the prestigious Lion Award by the panel of judges at the 76th Venice International Festival on Saturday.
The film director, Joel Kachi Benson, who received the award amidst applause from an international audience comprising of film makers, world celebrities, tech wizards and entrepreneurs, said he wanted to keep the memory of the Chibok incident alive using VR technology.
“I stand here today representing my country Nigeria and my continent, Africa as proof that all you need to get there is faith and courage. That is what you need to go out there and tell the stories that matter”, he said.
“With this VR film, all I wanted to do was to take the world to Chibok and show them these women who for five years have been living in pain because their daughters are still missing, I felt it was wrong for the world to just move on and forget”, Joel added.
The Chief Executive of the Yola Humanitarian Innovation Hub, Ahmad Tijjani Moddibo, congratulated the VR 360 team and Nigerians in general, saying the Yola Hub will not relent on its mandate to facilitate development of innovative ideas and solutions.
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