The winners of the coveted Zuma International Film Festival (ZUFF) 2025 Awards, Nigeria’s foremost national film festival, have been announced following a five-day cinematic showcase in Abuja. The 15th edition of the festival culminated in a spectacular ZUMA Awards Night and closing ceremony, held from December 1st to 5th at venues including Jabi Lake Mall, Silver Bird Cinema and Chida Hotels & Events Centre.
The evening’s undeniable champion was the Nigerian film The Man Died, directed by Awam Amkpa, which swept several of the major categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume, marking a significant success for Nigerian filmmaking. Other notable Nigerian wins went to Finding Nina, which earned awards for Best Actress (Ijapari Ben-Hirki), Best Actor (Abdulazeem M. Ibrahim) and Best Sound.
The awards recognised excellence across a wide spectrum of film disciplines, with major international titles also taking home prizes. The Cashew Rain (Alan Schvarsberg, Brazil) won Best Documentary, while fellow Brazilian film Don’t Look At Me (Natasha Atab) was named Best Foreign Film.
Key Winners at ZUMA 2025 Awards
Best Picture (The Man Died, Awam Amkpa – Nigeria)
Best Director (Awam Amkpa, The Man Died – Nigeria)
Best Cinematography (The Man Died, Awam Amkpa – Nigeria)
Best Actor (Abdulazeem M. Ibrahim, Finding Nina – Nigeria)
Best Actress (Ijapari Ben-Hirki, Finding Nina – Nigeria)
Best Supporting Actor (Sam Dede, The Man Died – Nigeria)
Best Foreign Film (Don’t Look At Me, Natasha Atab – Brazil)
Best Documentary (The Cashew Rain, Alan Schvarsberg – Brazil)
Best Short Film (Dubito, Daniyal Mahmoudinia – Iran)
Indigenous and Special Category Winners
In the Indigenous categories, the awards went to ÌṢẸ́ (PENURY) (Omobolanle Ayankumbi) for Best Yoruba Film, KAKANDA (Toa Mc Baror) for Best Hausa Film, and ROAD TO HELL (Kelechi Emmanuel Oritshet) for Best Igbo Film, all reinforcing the strength of Nigerian storytelling. International wins in the specialty categories included DUBITO (Daniyal Mahmoudinia, Iran) for Best Short Film, PASS (Noushin Safari, Iran) for Best Student Film, LOVE WAR (David Woulard & Tyler Parks, USA) for Best Music Video, and LION DANCE (禹呈 林yu Chenglin, Taiwan) for Best Skit. The Travails of Ajadi (Adeoye Adetunji, Nigeria) won Best Animation, and Beula (B Suresh Kumar, India) secured Best Children Film.
The jury included a diverse and distinguished panel of film experts, chaired by Nigeria’s Mr Ejike Asiegbu and featuring Dr. Mohammed Ghazala (Egypt); Mr Gilbert Agbor (Cameroun); Prof Vincensia Shule (Tanzania); Mr Hafizu Bello (Nigeria); Mr Rasmesh Raparthi (India); Abdulkareem BabaAminu (Nigeria); Fari Elysian (Russia); Oskar Alegra (Spain).
