Babatunde Apalowo's 'Londoner' wins Best Fiction Feature prize at Durban FilmMart

The Durban FilmMart Institute is a non-profit company that facilitates local and international trade and investment in African film content.

Apolowo is a Nigerian film director and screenwriter based in the United Kingdom. Some of his works include A Place for Happiness, Catcher, The Millions, and Death for Sale. In 2023, he won the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival for his queer romance All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.

The 15th edition of the Durban FilmMart held in South Africa between July 19 and July 22 witnessed applaudable film projects across the continent.

Produced by Pamela Drameh and Sarudzayi Marufu Londoner is an autobiographical film that revolves around Ayo, a bank manager from Nigeria, who travels to London to join his family. Upon his arrival, he discovers that his wife is emotionally involved with another man and wants a divorce

The feature film is roughly based on Apalowo’s struggle to find a home away from home after migrating to the UK.

“Nigeria is a place where personal space does not exist. In London, the opposite was the case. I realised I could die on the road and people would just drive on by. For the first time in my life, I felt lonely,” the director told Variety.

Londoner is his second feature film. Other winners at the FilmMart Awards include Sean Drummond and Sheetal Magan who won The Known Inner Circle Award with a cash prize of $10,000 for the South African film, Acts of Man.