LAGOS: The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) opens in Nigeria on Sunday and although it is still in its infancy, organizers hope that with time it can become the continent’s Cannes.

Seventy films from across the continent will be screened in a series of venues over seven days in the southern coastal city of Calabar, which Nigeria has tried to promote as an emerging cultural hub.

“For an African film to come out in Cannes or at the Toronto Film Festival it has got to be pretty exceptional,” said festival spokesman Julian Nwagboniwe. “But on our platform, we can increase exposure” for artists who may struggle for recognition in Europe or North America, he told AFP. “We are looking at Cannes and we think that AFRIFF can be the Cannes of Africa,” Nwagboniwe went on, referring to the glitzy annual festival on the French Riviera.