Naija Beta
A film by Arthur Musah
Synopsis
A team of Nigerian MIT undergraduates heads home one summer to run the first ever robotics camp for high-schoolers in their country. Hoping to instill a love of creative problem solving in their new converts to robotics engineering, the MIT undergrads discover that they themselves have many lessons to learn about their country and about themselves, as they attempt to pull off an autonomous robotics competition in the final days of the program. Ultimately, the robotics camp becomes a portrait of an entrepreneurial generation of young Nigerians and the society they are attempting to change.
Documentary • 2016 • 50 mins • Color • HD (16:9) • Stereo/5.1
Director: Arthur Musah
Producers: Arthur Musah, Brook Sitgraves Turner
Featuring: Grace Lanre-Amos, Jemima Osunde, Obinna Ukwuani
Press
- UN Africa Renewal Magazine: Naija Beta: A look at diaspora Africans finding their place back home
- Africa Tech Roundup Podcast, 7/2/2017: A Chat With Naija Beta Filmmaker Arthur Musah
- How Africa, 5/26/2017: Ghanaian filmmaker Arthur Musah tells the story of African immigrant students
- MIT Division of Student Life, 5/19/2017: From Africa to MIT and Back Again
- Press Release, 4/13/2017: One Day I Too Go Fly Inc Releases Award-Winning Directorial Debut NAIJA BETA Documentary By Ghanaian Filmmaker Arthur Musah on VOD Platforms VXH and Vimeo Worldwide
- Media Update, 3/08/2017: RapidLion film festival engages African filmmakers in debate
- Africa Is A Country, 1/25/2017: Documenting Nigeria’s ‘brain drain’
- Sodas ‘N’ Popcorn, 12/15/2016: AFRIFF Review: Naija Beta, Directed by Arthur Musah
- CNN, 10/07/2016: The MIT grad building Africa’s first STEM school
- Slice of MIT, 9/20/2016: Alumnus Chronicles the Africa-MIT Experience
- TRUE AFRICA, 4/30/2016: Naija Beta director Arthur Musah on ‘the value of homecoming and the power of youth’
Screenings
Zanzibar International Film Festival [Zanzibar, TANZANIA] • Realtime International Film Festival [Lagos, NIGERIA] • New York African Film Festival [Harlem, NY, USA] • MIT Division of Student Life Screening [Cambridge, MA, USA] • MIT Lecture Series Committee Screening [Cambridge, MA, USA] • HALI Indaba Conference of Educators [Lake Kivu, RWANDA] • Afrika Film Festival of Louvain-la-Neuve [Louvain-la-Neuve, BELGIUM] • Yale Undergraduate Association for African Peace and Development (YAAPD) Conference [New Haven, CT, USA] • RapidLion – The South African International Film Festival [Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA] • The West African Film Festival [Houston, TX, USA] • African-American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase [Los Angeles, CA, USA] • Global Entrepreneurship Week, African Leadership University [ALU Campus, MAURITIUS] • Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) [Lagos, NIGERIA] • Girls Day at the MIT Museum [Cambridge, MA, USA] • Arlington International Film Festival [Arlington, MA, USA] • Silicon Valley African Film Festival [Mountain View, CA, USA] • Gary International Black Film Festival [Gary, IN, USA] • Urban Mediamakers Film Festival [Atlanta, GA, USA] • MIT Club of Boston Screening and Panel Discussion [Cambridge, MA, USA] • The African Film Festival (TAFF) [Dallas, TX, USA] • The Roxbury International Film Festival [Boston, MA, USA] • Festival International du Film PanAfricain de Cannes [Cannes, FRANCE]