Idris Elba opened his Red Sea Film Festival conversation with the screening of “Dust to Dreams,” a short film shot in Lagos, starring Seal, Nse Ikpe-Etim, and Constance Olatunde, marking his second turn behind the camera. For Elba, the decision to film in Nigeria felt inevitable. “It seemed weird that I hadn’t made a movie there yet,” he said, noting the strength of Nollywood. “The film industry is huge. It’s worth five billion, plus incredible talent.”

He linked the project to a long-running interest in spotlighting narratives often defined by outsiders. “Anywhere that has an underserved voice, where the narrative is often fed to us rather than us providing the narrative,” he said, “that’s where I want to be.” Elba drew a parallel between Africa and the Middle East, saying festivals l

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