Noah’s Raft, a documentary by Nigerian filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson, is being screened at the British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival, which began this week.

The annual BFI London Film Festival screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries. It started on October 6 and will run until October 17 at the BFI Southbank Centre in the UK capital.

Noah’s Raft is a 12-minute film about love, education and community. According to the BFI, acclaimed Nigerian filmmaker Benson’s VR documentary shows how one person with a vision can transform a whole community by means of education.

The BFI’s blurb for the film reads as follows: “‘No person shall be denied the right to education.’ This privilege has been declared a human right by the United Nations, but has still not become a reality for many around the world. For the children of Makoko, a floating slum on the outskirts of Lagos, education is barely a presence in their lives. They are simply raised to help their parents and schooling is often perceived as a threat to the community’s traditions.

“But Noah Shemede, a committed education worker, follows his dream and sets up a floating primary school with the mission to change his community through education. In focusing on Shemede’s work, Venice Lion winner (Daughters of Chibok, 2019) Benson tackles one of the most pressing matters of our time through the prism of cutting-edge technology.”

The documentary was shot by VR360 Stories and co-directed by VR-AR art curator Tal Michael Haring. It premiered in June at the NewImages Festival in Paris and is in the English and Egun languages.

tagged in: BFI, BFI London Film Festival, Joel Kachi Benson, Noah’s Raft