Veteran advertising executive and President of the International Advertising Association (IAA), Nigeria Chapter, Steve Babaeko, is set to bring a deeply personal chapter of his childhood to the screen as his eight-minute short film, Ramat, earns a place in the official selection of the 15th Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), scheduled to hold in Lagos from 1 to 7 November 2026.
The film draws on Babaeko’s memory of witnessing his father, a soldier, cry for the first time, an experience that remained with him for decades before he found the courage to translate it into a cinematic story.
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In a statement announcing the film’s selection, Babaeko explained that the project was driven by a desire to preserve a personal memory rather than pursue recognition on the festival circuit.
“I did not plan to make a festival film,” he said, reflecting on the journey that has now taken his story to one of Africa’s recognised platforms for cinema and creative exchange.
According to AFRIFF’s official film listing, Ramat is set in a Nigerian Army barracks on the morning of 13 February 1976, following a five-year-old boy whose ordinary day is disrupted by news of the assassination of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed.
As confusion spreads through the barracks, the child witnesses his father’s tears, revealing the personal and emotional consequences of a national tragedy through the eyes of a young boy.
The film explores how major historical events can enter family life and permanently alter a child’s understanding of the world.
The narrative gives the film a distinctive human-interest angle, shifting attention from the public significance of a national event to the private emotions experienced by an ordinary family.
Rather than treating history solely as a sequence of political developments, Ramat examines the vulnerability of a father through the memory of his child.
Babaeko, who founded the creative agency X3M Ideas in 2012, has built his professional reputation in advertising and brand communications.
The film marks a further expansion of his creative work into cinematic storytelling, allowing him to explore personal memory through a different medium.
The official AFRIFF listing identifies Babaeko as the film’s director, with Damian Inedu also credited as a writer.
Bukola Makinde is listed as producer, while the cast includes Samuel Ademola, Durotimi Okutagidi, Lawrence Oghenekevwe and Gbubemi Ejeye.
Nora Awolowo served as director of photography, according to the announcement published by Brand Communicator.
Babaeko also expressed appreciation to the individuals and production partners who supported the project, including Oluwabukola Makinde, Zero Degrees, Seun Akinseloyin and Josh Borrill.
The selection places Ramat among the short films featured in AFRIFF’s 2026 programme. The festival’s 15th edition will run under the theme, “Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence”, bringing together filmmakers, producers, critics, investors and other industry professionals to explore African storytelling and the business of cinema.
Founded in 2010 by Chioma Ude, AFRIFF has developed into a platform connecting African filmmakers with audiences and industry stakeholders through screenings, professional development activities and industry conversations.
Its programme also includes the Africa Film and Content Market, which creates opportunities for discussions around financing, co-production and distribution.
The festival’s growing industry focus reflects the wider need to strengthen the structures that enable African films to reach audiences at home and abroad.
Beyond creative recognition, platforms such as AFRIFF can help filmmakers build professional networks, explore distribution opportunities and develop projects for wider markets.
For Babaeko, however, Ramat begins with something more intimate than industry ambition: a childhood memory that remained vivid long into adulthood.
The film’s selection offers an opportunity to share that experience with audiences who may recognise the emotions surrounding family, childhood and the moments that reshape how people see those closest to them.
The film’s screening date and venue had not been published in the official programme at the time of reporting.
AFRIFF is scheduled to conclude on 7 November with its Globe Awards, bringing together a week of screenings and activities celebrating African and international cinema.
Babaeko’s announcement ended with a declaration that reflects his readiness to embrace this new creative chapter: he is “not waiting in the wings anymore”.
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With Ramat, the advertising executive moves beyond the familiar language of brand campaigns to tell a story rooted in memory, vulnerability and the lasting emotional imprint of history on family life.
