1,185 films approved in 2025 -NFCVB Film

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) says it approved and classified a total of 1,185 films between January and December 2025.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Ogbonna Onwumere, Director, Corporate Affairs, NFVCB.

Our correspondent reports that the figure represents an increase over the 1,088 films classified in 2024.

Onwumere said that the increase reflected a sustained growth and strong activity in the Nigeria’s film industry.

He also said that it indicated a consistently high level of engagement by filmmakers and distributors across the country.

According to him, the approved films cut across a wide range of genres and languages, showcasing the vibrancy of local film production as well as the continued submission of foreign-language films for classification in Nigeria.

He noted that English-language films recorded the highest number of approvals in the year under review, reaffirming their dominance in Nigeria’s film production landscape.

”Yoruba and Igbo films followed, while Hausa and other indigenous Nigerian language films appeared less frequently,” he said.

The NFVCB director of corporate affairs further said that the board however noted a broader representation of indigenous languages such as Nupe, Berom and Gbagyi, particularly in September 2025.

He said that the development highlighted Nigeria’s rich cultural diversity, adding that foreign-language films including those in Hindi, French and Japanese, were also classified during the year.

”In terms of audience ratings, data revealed a strong concentration of films classified under 15 and 18 ratings across all months, suggesting that most of the films approved in 2025 were targeted at mature audiences.

”Family-friendly classifications such as G, PG and 12A were comparatively fewer, pointing to limited production of children’s and general-audience content,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a monthly breakdown of the figure showed that May 2025 recorded the highest number of film approvals, with 173 titles classified.

Onwumere reiterated the NFVCB commitment to encouraging greater diversity in film production.

He said that the board would continue to advocate increased investment in family-friendly content and wider use of Nigeria’s indigenous languages.

He said that this would be in line with the Executive Director’s emphasis on cultural representation and inclusivity in the film industry.

He disclosed that in a bid to promote indigenous language films, the board had reduced classification fees for films produced in indigenous languages outside Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.