Iwa Ji: A Celebration of the Igbo Culture

The new yam festival as a living memory of Igbo identity

Set in the Ohuhu community of Umuahia North, Abia State, Iwa Ji: A Celebration of the Igbo Culture centres on the annual new yam festival as a lens through which the deeper structures of Igbo society are revealed. The festival is presented not only as a communal celebration, but as a living archive where history, belief, and social order converge. Through its rituals, symbols, and collective participation, the film captures a culture negotiating continuity in the face of change.

The documentary explores interconnected themes of slavery, resilience, gender roles, death, and economy, all of which are embedded in the festival’s practices and narratives. These elements reveal how the Igbo worldview has been shaped by historical experience and sustained through communal values. The camera observes how responsibilities are distributed, how memory is honoured, and how survival has been organised across generations.

Beyond documentation, the film functions as an act of preservation. By recording the new yam festival and the meanings attached to it, the documentary safeguards an aspect of Igbo heritage that is increasingly at risk of disappearance. Its strength lies in its attentiveness to detail and its respect for lived experience, allowing the community to speak through its customs rather than external interpretation.

Ultimately, the film stands as both an educational record and a tribute to Igbo resilience. It underscores the urgency of protecting indigenous traditions and affirms culture as something that endures only through collective care and remembrance.