After storming the 11th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards on 10 May 2025—bagging Best Movie and Best Writing—Blessing Uzzi’s gritty debut Freedom Way is finally leaving the festival circuit and roaring into cinemas nationwide this July 2025.
Why Filmmakers Are Calling It “The Lagos Crash”
Director Afolabi Olalekan stitches nine intersecting lives into one relentless night on Lagos’ real‑life Freedom Way: a tech start‑up shredded by draconian laws, police partners torn between duty and brutality, and ordinary hustlers trapped between survival and the system. Drawn from Olalekan’s encounters with profiling, the script hits like a protest anthem set to sirens.
From TIFF Spotlight to Local Screens
Premiering in Toronto’s Discovery section last September and scooping a Special Jury Prize at AFRIFF, the 88‑minute roller‑coaster has travelled the globe, gathering word‑of‑mouth thunder before rolling home.
