05/10/2026
“Lights Out,” a Cameroonian movie that focuses on dementia—a medical condition that causes memory loss—has become the first movie in Central Africa, selected to compete in the International Narrative Features section of one of the U.S.'s biggest movie platforms, the American Black Film Festival 2026.
The award ceremony will take place at the festival in Miami Beach, Florida, scheduled to run from May 27–31, 2026.
Lights Out, filmed at the Limbe Botanical Garden, is believed to be the first Cameroonian film ever to compete at this level at the ABFF.
The movie is a psychological thriller about Lucas, a retired security guard whose grip on reality begins to slip as he obsesses over the disappearance of his daughter. Convinced she is still missing, his search ends when he is placed in a dementia care facility—a place meant to protect him, but one he experiences as a prison. As memories fracture and time blurs, Lucas struggles to tell the truth from illusion. Medication dulls his instincts, surveillance fuels his paranoia, and fellow residents mirror his unraveling mind. Amidst the confusion, he forms a fragile bond with Monica, whose presence offers comfort in a world that is fading around him.
As buried memories surface, Lucas must confront a haunting question: Is he losing his mind, or remembering a truth others want buried? Lights Out is a tense and emotional journey into memory, love, and guilt, where the greatest fear is realizing the truth too late.
During a press conference held at the Gilgal Tower in Limbe on Saturday, co-producer Buh Melvin said the movie “Lights Out” is intended to spark conversations that move beyond fear and toward awareness and care.
The story of Lights Out itself is drawn from the personal family history of the producer Carista Asonganyi, whose grandmother suffered from dementia.
According to the director, Enah John Scott, who recently won the Best Director award at CAMIFF, dementia is very rampant, especially in Cameroonian society, but hardly are those suffering from it treated with care and love.
“So, the movie is shining a light on it to tell the public that the people suffering from dementia are not mad people. So, don't despise them,” he told journalists during the press conference.
Lights Out stares prominent actors like Wale Ojo, Shaffy Bello, Syndy Emade, Ngongang Elizabeth, and Libota MacDonald.
The movie is competing for International Narrative Features at the ABFF among others from Brazil, the UK, and one other country for that award category.
So, the movie is counting on the Cameroonian audience to vote massively when voting becomes available.
