The Toronto International Film Festival ran September 10–20, 2026, 51 editions in still one of the most important cinema gatherings in the world. And this year, Nigeria showed up with two films.
Not just two films at a market table. One of them The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives landed in the Centrepiece Programme, selected from over 9,000 submissions worldwide.
That is not a courtesy slot. That is TIFF saying: this is one of the films the world needs to see right now.
The other, Old Scores: The Black Book 2, was presented at TIFF: The Market 2026 under the Global Africa Hub powered by CANEX, a dedicated platform at TIFF Market designed to push African films into international distribution conversations. Two different stages. Same message: Nigerian cinema is here, and it is ready for the global conversation.
Behind both films: producer Mimi Bartels one of the most important and quietly undersung figures in Nollywood’s business architecture.
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
The film has been over a decade in the making not in production, but in the cultural imagination of anyone who read Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel when it was first published in 2010.
The book was a phenomenon: internationally acclaimed, translated into multiple languages, adapted for the stage in London in 2018 to a five-star Guardian review. The story of Baba Segi, his four wives, and the fragile domestic order that unravels when the youngest wife arrives has been waiting for its screen adaptation for years.
It finally has one and it went straight to TIFF’s Centrepiece Programme.
Directed by Daniel Oriahi from a screenplay adapted by Oriahi alongside Adze Ugah, Mo Abudu, and Heidi Uys, the film stars Odunlade Adekola as Baba Segi the wealthy patriarch whose carefully maintained family order begins to collapse with the arrival of his youngest wife Bolanle, played by Omowunmi Dada.
The rest of the household includes Iya Segi the first wife and household authority, played by Iyabo Ojo and second wife Iya Tope, played by Mercy Aigbe.
The film is produced by Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Films in partnership with Genesis Media Group, Nile Media Entertainment Group, Silverbird Group, and Flytime Entertainment with Mimi Bartels among the producers.
One creative decision defined everything about the production’s identity: it was filmed predominantly in Yoruba. Mo Abudu spoke about this directly after the TIFF selection was announced:
“Authenticity was at the heart of every creative decision we made, which is why we chose to tell this story predominantly in Yoruba. It is the language these characters speak, live and love in, and preserving that authenticity was essential while bringing this powerful story to audiences around the world.” — Mo Abudu, EbonyLife Films
Variety’s review described it as “a twisty Nigerian melodrama” noting its themes of suffocating patriarchy, gender-based societal hypocrisy, and the complex, often invisible dynamics of women’s lives within polygamous households.
One of three Nigerian films playing at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, their reviewer noted, a sentence that would have been remarkable five years ago and now reflects the momentum Nigerian cinema has built through consistent, ambitious storytelling.
After Toronto, the film heads to the BFI London Film Festival playing in the Journey strand. Then it opens in Nigerian cinemas on December 4, 2026, marking EbonyLife Films’ first theatrical release since 2019.
The UK release will benefit from Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Place London the first cinema in the UK dedicated exclusively to African and Black films, opening in October.
Film: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Director: Daniel Oriahi
Producer: EbonyLife Films (Mo Abudu) + Genesis Media Group, Nile Media, Silverbird, Flytime, Mimi Bartels
Cast: Odunlade Adekola, Omowunmi Dada, Iyabo Ojo, Mercy Aigbe
Based on: Lola Shoneyin’s 2010 novel
TIFF placement: Centrepiece Programme (World Premiere)
Next: BFI London Film Festival (Journey strand)
Nigeria release: December 4, 2026
Old Scores: The Black Book 2
While Baba Segi’s Wives was on the festival screen, Old Scores: The Black Book 2 was at TIFF: The Market the industry-facing side of TIFF where distributors, sales agents, and financiers make the decisions that determine where films travel after their festival debut.
The film was presented under the Global Africa Hub powered by CANEX a dedicated African films market strand that has been building visibility for African productions in Toronto for several years. Being inside the Global Africa Hub at TIFF Market puts a film in front of exactly the international buyers and distributors who can take it beyond its home market.
Mimi Bartels — The Producer Behind Both Films
The through-line connecting both Toronto appearances is Mimi Bartels and her story deserves the same attention as the films she produces.
Bartels has spent more than 16 years working across production, distribution, and development in Nollywood one of the longest and most consequential career arcs in the industry.
She previously served as General Manager of FilmOne Studios and is a co-founder and Director of Creative & Productions at Anakle Films.
As a producer, she has been involved in the development, financing, and co-production of more than 30 films. Her work in distribution has contributed to the release of more than 110 films a number that shapes what Nigerian audiences can actually see on screen, not just what gets made.
Her producing credits have earned more than 30 AMVCA nominations and two wins. She was named Nigeria’s highest-grossing producer in 2021. She has served as a juror for both the International Emmy Awards and the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.
In 2026, she has two films at TIFF simultaneously one of them a Centrepiece selection at one of the world’s most important film festivals. That is a career speaking for itself.
The 2026 TIFF is not the first time Nigerian films have made Toronto but the scale of this year’s presence is different. Variety noted that Baba Segi’s Wives represents Mo Abudu’s fifth official TIFF selection, a consistency of presence that most African filmmakers can only aspire to.
Moses Babatope of Nile Media Entertainment Group was also in Toronto for a TIFF Market session specifically on the global success of the Nigerian film industry.
The Centrepiece Programme placement puts Baba Segi’s Wives in the company of films selected from 50 countries including a record eight animated features this year. Getting into that group from 9,000 submissions is not momentum. It is recognition.
And for every young Nigerian filmmaker watching from Lagos or Abuja or Port Harcourt: a Yoruba-language film about the interior lives of women in a polygamous household just world premiered at one of the most prestigious film festivals on the planet. The stories that feel most specifically Nigerian most local, most culturally rooted are exactly the ones the world is choosing.
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives opens in Nigerian cinemas on December 4, 2026. What are your thoughts on two Nigerian films representing at TIFF this year? Drop your thoughts in the comments.