Coconut Head Generation (Alain Kassanda)
Black History Month 2025
•
1h 29m
Directed by Alain Kassanda • Documentary • 2023 • 89 minutes
At Ibadan, Nigeria’s oldest university, a student association hosts a documentary screening and discussion group. In a country where dissent is frequently punished, this Thursday Film Series becomes a space for conversation and impassioned debate.
Organizers program films by the likes of John Akomfrah (Ghana/UK), Jean-Marie Teno (Mauritania), and Med Hondo (Cameroon). With the films as a starting point, the students hold compelling discussions on issues including corruption, gender roles, LGBTQ+ rights, colonialism, housing, and corruption. In between screenings, we get a taste of their daily lives at university, as they play soccer, eat instant noodles and joke around with each other.
But when nationwide protests against police brutality break out, students find themselves on the front lines of resistance — and the issues that occupied them take on a new urgency. Meanwhile, university life is far from carefree, with frequent blackouts, overcrowded conditions, and consequences for even the most benign actions to better their lives.
“Coconut head generation” is a term used by older generations to denigrate young Nigerians as brainless. As this film makes abundantly clear, they are anything but.
Up Next in Black History Month 2025
-
Mambar Pierrette (Rosine Mbakam)
Directed by Rosine Mbakam • Drama • With Pierrette Aboheu Njeuthat • 2023 • 93 minutes
Over the past decade, Cameroonian filmmaker Rosine Mbakam (Chez Jolie Coiffure, Delphine’s Prayers) has distinguished herself for her quietly observational documentary portraits of African women. With Mambar P...
-
And She Could Be Next: Part One - Bui...
Directed by Grace Lee, Marjan Safinia • Documentary • With Stacey Abrams, Rashida Tlaib • 2020 • 111 minutes
“Episode One: Building The Movement” opens with the powerful reminder that “women of color have been the backbone of our communities forever.” An energetic montage of modern American civi...
-
And She Could Be Next: Part Two - Cla...
Directed by Marjan Safinia, Grace Lee • Documentary • With Stacey Abrams, Rashida Tlaib • 2020 • 121 minutes
“Episode Two: Claiming Power” takes us to the weeks leading up to election day and focuses on how organizers combat voter suppression in their own communities. At the heart of the episode...
