Lagos at Large

A poetic essay and an uneasy love story, Lagos at Large is a tribute to the largest city of Nigeria by poet Njideka, a daughter of the diaspora living in Austria. The short film is a lyrical collage told in short segments, as we plot a course through the noise and urban chaos, made pressing and real in VR.

Navigating through different city spaces, marketplaces, public monuments, sites of leisure, mass transit, and crowds and cars passing through busy city arteries, the artist asks shrewd, unflinching questions of her surroundings. With a manner both playful and acerbic, between spoken word and memoir, the narration unfolds difficult questions of class division, international development, economic policy and the differences between those who return to the country from abroad and the people who never left. The piece is a tour through the imaginary as well as the material space of Lagos, blending autobiographical and critical engagement.

Lagos at Large is supported by Electric South, imisi3D and IDFA DocLab.