Whispers in the Wires, the 5th and latest Short Film produced by leading pan-African organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), has won Gold in Advocacy and Social Impact Messaging Category at the 2025 Summit Creative Awards.
This is the second award Paradigm Initiative is clinching from the Summit Creative Awards. PIN’s 3rd short film, Finding Diana secured a Bronze Award in the Public Service Category at the 2023 Summit Creative Awards.
‘Gbenga Sesan, PIN’s Executive Director welcomed the good news, and went on to say, “this is an excellent endorsement of our work at Paradigm Initiative. It also supports our vision of a digitally inclusive and rights-respecting world. For five years, we have been deploying strategic storytelling through our short films to reach a wider audience.”
He added: “Securing Gold in the Advocacy and Social Impact category at the Summit Creative Awards is heartwarming, as our latest short film, Whispers in The Wires, has made a significant impact. Wins like this continue to fuel our work, and we remain grateful for this recognition, as it demonstrates we are doing the right thing. We thank the film’s sponsors, Ford Foundation, Luminate and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, for their generosity and support in bringing the film to fruition.
The film is executive produced by Paradigm Initiative in partnership with Up In the Sky Films.
On his part, Oje Ojeaga, CEO and Chief Creative Officer at Up in the Sky said: “creativity and innovation drive everything we do. Receiving this award is a testament to our team’s relentless pursuit of excellence in storytelling. We are pleased to add this Gold award in the Advocacy & Social Impact Messaging category to the list of awards won for Paradigm Initiative, following on from a Bronze win for “Finding Diana” in 2023, also at the Summit Creative Awards.”
The film was directed by Tolulope Ajayi and produced by Benjamin Adeniran.
The Summit International Awards is a US-based organisation that focuses on rewarding the most creative and innovative work globally with a high standard for evaluation. Now in its 31st year, the Summit Creative Award continues to provide a respected platform for recognising creative achievement across industries. This year’s competition featured outstanding entries from 21 countries, demonstrating creative excellence on a global level.
At the same time, ‘Whispers in the Wires’ has been selected among the top three winners at the Africon 2025/African Cinema Day-Short Film Competition. The film, which won the 3rd prize in the competition, was selected from 100 films drawn from 23 countries. The first prize went to ‘Our Brother’ by Shandra Apondi from Kenya while the second prize went to ‘She Island’ by Raven Irabor & SIRA Marissa Lewis from US, Caribbean.
PIN’s short film is inspired by Paradigm Initiative’s annual digital rights and inclusion report, Londa, which gives insight into the state of digital rights and inclusion in countries across Africa. The latest report features 27 African countries. Besides Whispers in The Wires and Finding Diana, PIN has produced Training Day, Focus and Undersight short films all based on the Londa reports.
‘Whispers in The Wires’ is one of other tools the organisation uses to highlight the report and its impact on society and policy making across the continent.
PIN is also looking forward to the film’s screening at AFRICON, an annual conference and cultural festival celebrating Africa and its diaspora in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, between September 18th and September 20th, 2025.
Ends..//