“Growing up, I watched the same mix of films most people around me did — Nigerian home videos, Chinese action films, Hollywood blockbusters, and Indian movies,” David says. “I didn’t have any lightbulb moment or special story that drew me to filmmaking.”
It’s a modest start for someone whose name is quietly making its way through Nigeria’s growing independent film scene. David is a producer and filmmaker interested in how Nigerian stories are told, not just in structure or style, but in how they hold up on a global scale.
Who is David Ikeata?
Based in Lagos, David has spent more than a decade working around Nigeria’s film industry. He has co-written and produced projects across continents, including The Last Rabbi, an Egyptian short, Adam Bol, a Kazakhstan-Nigeria collaboration, and The Abyss Within, a meditation on artistic depression. He’s now developing several features, including Moondust, Hibiscus by the River, and an undisclosed Igbo horror epic set in the 1600s.
Earlier this year, he became the first Nigerian accepted into the Zurich Film Festival Academy, a milestone he acknowledges with some unease. Titles like “the first” don’t interest him; what matters is the exchange of ideas and the chance to grow within a global filmmaking community.
We spoke with David about his time at the Zurich Film Festival Academy and some of the exciting projects he’s been building.
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How did your early experiences in Nigeria shape your approach to storytelling?
That’s an interesting question. My early experiences in Nigeria have definitely shaped my creative voice, especially in how I approach telling Nigerian stories. There’s so much angst I carry about Nigeria and our culture — things I can’t always express, process, or communicate directly — and discovering storytelling became the space where I try to work through those feelings.
I’ve lost focus a little at times, but moving forward, I really hope to centre my work on exploring that tension — the love and frustration I feel — and to turn it into something meaningful through the stories I tell.”
What was the application process for the Zurich Film Academy like?
I first heard about the Zurich Film Festival Academy program a few years ago when a contact of mine was selected to be part of the academy. After that, I started following what they were doing. The application process itself was quite easy and straightforward. It was an open call available online, where people from all over the world could apply.
You’re the first Nigerian producer at the Zurich Film Festival. What does that mean for you personally?
“I’m not really a fan of the phrase “the first.” I understand why people use it, but I’m not too comfortable with that kind of framing. For me, being part of the Zurich Film Festival Academy was about gaining valuable insights and building meaningful connections, two of which I believe I made.
I don’t think my participation has any broader impact on Nigerian cinema, to be honest. We’re already in a space where a number of incredible Nigerian talents are making strong strides with their work and gaining global recognition. My experience was more as a personal milestone and an opportunity to potentially grow within that larger movement.”
When asked if he felt a sense of responsibility carrying that “first” title, David said he didn’t. “It’s simply an experience I’m grateful for and really appreciate”, he said.
You’re quite media shy. Does that come from a belief that art should speak for itself?
[laughs] “Absolutely, yes. But it’s not exactly about being media shy; it’s more that there’s a self-promotional aspect to media that I just haven’t caught up with, and probably never will.”
The Last Rabbi, co-produced by David, had its world premiere at Cinemed on the 19th of October. It follows a 60-year-old Egyptian man, one of the last remaining Jews, who is trying to care for his ailing wife while quietly fearing that when he dies, there will be no one left to perform his Jewish rites.
What was the journey like co-producing this film, from idea to screen?
“I came on board the film during post-production. The director had already done the tough part of conceptualising the idea, putting together a team and making the film under very difficult conditions. By the time I joined, they needed finishing funds, which I was able to help secure alongside a French sales representative.”
One of his upcoming projects, Hibiscus by the River, is a cross-continental queer drama that explores love, freedom, and identity through a distinctly Nigerian lens.
Tell me about Hibiscus by the River
“Hibiscus by the River explores themes of entrapment and freedom through the journey of a teenager who is outed in Nigeria and later undergoes a transformative chapter of his life abroad. The film centres on a traditional element that challenges his identity, and the story unfolds in a non-linear structure to reflect the emotional fragmentation of the protagonist.”
Queer stories in Nigeria often face silence or resistance. What part of that silence are you hoping this film speaks to?
“Realistically, we are aware that this is a film that will never be publicly shown in Nigeria. So we aim to make a global story that speaks loudly enough and sparks curiosity in world cinema such that Nigerians feel compelled to seek it out and talk about it.”
David describes the film’s tone as both romantic and confrontational, a balance that feels inevitable when telling a queer story in a society like ours. He hopes it sparks conversations about the nature of love and the courage it takes to embrace it, accepted or not. His next project, an Igbo horror epic set in the 1600s, carries that same spirit.
Could you give us a sneak peek into your Igbo horror epic, too?
“The film loosely explores the Igbo caste system and then moves into a more fantastical space. We took some creative and artistic license to imagine the mindset of a patriarchal family in the 1600s, living in isolation and guided by beliefs that may feel extreme today — yet still echo the realities of how we hold on to our belief systems, and how we sometimes hurt ourselves and others because of them.”
What part of Igbo mythology or history does the story draw from, and why did that world feel right for horror?
“The story draws from parts of Igbo mythology that talk about the link between the living and the spiritual world — especially how spirits and ancestors interact with us. There’s something powerful and naturally eerie about that belief system, because it treats the spiritual world as very real and very close. That idea felt right for horror. It’s about fear rooted in tradition or fanatical beliefs.”
