Film Screening: The Broken Mask
Directed by Kagho Idhebor
In conjunction with the Open Studio Series October 25, 2025 | Lianna Foundation, Lagos
overview
As part of the second weekend of our Open Studio Series, Lianna Foundation & Gallery hosted a special screening of The Broken Mask, a short film by Lagos-based cinematographer and director Kagho Idhebor.
The film follows a traditional mask maker as he grapples with the trauma of his daughter’s sexual molestation at the hands of a family member, and the supernatural reckoning that follows. With delicacy and force, The Broken Mask confronts the hidden violence that can exist within domestic spaces, while honouring the emotional weight carried by caregivers and community figures.
The screening was especially resonant in the context of the Open Studio, creating powerful echoes between the film and the exhibiting artists’ work—Lawal Olanrewaju’s use of mask symbolism and Chinaza Nkemka’s focus on the female body as a site of memory and vulnerability.
This event continues Lianna’s film screening initiative, which uses film as a tool for reflection, learning, and dialogue. The screening closed with a thoughtful Q&A featuring the filmmaker in conversation with the exhibiting artists—offering space to reflect on pain, protection, and the body as both subject and archive.
film review & directors info
Critical Review:
The Broken Mask (2022),is a short film that follows a mask maker forced to confront the sexual molestation of his daughter by a relative.
What makes The Broken Mask particularly resonant is how closely it reflects a lived Nigerian reality. Child molestation, especially by trusted older male relatives, is an open secret rarely confronted with honesty or consequence. As a man, the director’s decision to centre the father’s experience feels deliberate and quietly confrontational. The film asks, what it means for a father, stereotypically imagined as a shield of the family, to sit with failure, rage, and grief without being allowed the comfort of denial. The paternal pain here is herocised. It is raw, disorienting, and heavy with unanswered questions about responsibility and complicity.
The closing sequence with the mask-maker’s daughter wearing a previously broken mask while dancing, is one of the film’s strongest moments. It comes full circle from the film’s reference to female masquerades being worn by men, such as the Geledė, and the historical exclusion of women from masquerade guilds or even from witnessing them.
Read this way, The Broken Mask is not only about trauma, but injustice, or equity, giving to each what is due. The ending suggests that what a broken father deserves is not revenge, but joy and healing of his daughter. For molester, the violent car crash that sends him to the hospital feels less like a dramatic ending and more a cosmic reckoning.
Director’s Bio:
Kagho Idhebor's journey into film started at the National Film Institute Jos where he obtained a degree in film production. His career as a cinematographer was borne out of his love for photography while in film school, where his keen interest in the characteristics of light on subjects and contrast were ignited.
In 2012 He moved on to earn a certificate in Advanced cinematography from the prestigious German-funded institute One Fine Day Films in Nairobi, Kenya. Kagho’s collaboration with directors and producers has led to various award winning films and recognitions both in and outside the country. He’s also a multiple award winning director and a two time Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award (AMVCA) Best Cinematography nominee. He currently lives in Lagos where he continues to apply his talent as a freelance cinematographer/Director.
