Educational Media Reviews Online

To speak disparagingly of other generations is a perpetual and universal practice. In Nigeria, elders call their young adults “coconut heads” i.e. stubborn and empty-headed. Coconut Head Generation follows students at the University of Ibadan (UI) who embrace the term as they proceed to shatter its undeserved stereotype.

UI was established in 1948 as a public satellite campus of the University of London. Ibadan is the capital and most populous city in the state of Oyo. Soon after Nigeria became independent of British rule in 1960, the university itself became independent and is the oldest degree-awarding institution in the country. Today it has approximately 40,000 students and over a dozen faculties.

The Thursday Film Series, established in 2016, is a student curated and run extracurricular program, that is an opportunity for students to gather and watch films, from across the world and spanning decades. From guest filmmakers and panels to spoken word poetry and passionate debates, the Thursday Film Series is a space where various themes are up for discussion. These include violence, human trafficking, child labor, marital rape, misogyny, women's rights, feminism, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, patriarchy, decolonization, intersectionality, repatriation of art, migration and mobility – even the living conditions at UI and other Nigerian universities, overcrowding and housing insecurity, and a frank cost-benefit analysis of the very post-secondary education the students are currently pursuing. Part of the documentary also focuses on police brutality and the End SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) protests of October 2020 in which several of the UI students participated.

Coconut Head Generation has tremendous educational value and is highly recommended for any curricula incorporating the topics of activism, education, globalization, human rights, social movements, social psychology – in addition to the other issues touched upon above. By watching the film, the viewer feels as if they have attended a special-access Thursday Film Series themselves. And one leaves the experience with the impression that any country should be so lucky as to have “coconut heads” like these brilliant individuals, as representatives of its future.

Awards:
Grand Prize, Cinéma du Réel 2023

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