Crocodile
101 min | New-Zealand, Nigeria | 2026 | English, Pidgin English, Yoruba and Hausa
Directed by: The Critics & Pietra Brettkelly
Produced by: Pietra Brettkelly & The Critics (Crocodile Film Limited, Pietra Brettkelly Films Limited, Clan Yujo Limited)
About The Film
In dusty Kaduna, Godwin and Raymond turn their backyard into a universe of spaceships, explosions, and wild adventures. Armed with smartphones and recycled materials they create The Critics, a homemade film collective whose short films travel from local streets to international screens, attracting attention from filmmakers like J.J. Abrams and collaborations with Western institutions.
Shot over 13 years in an immersive hybrid style blending documentary with scenes imagined and performed by the nine brothers, sisters and cousins, Crocodile celebrates creativity, determination, and the power of imagination. They ask who has the right to tell their own story while sharing a deeply personal yet universal vision of life, art, and love.
Press
"Their story is moving and their tenacity inspiring. It shows a side of Africa I hadn't seen on screen before"
"Berlin Film Festival: 'Crocodile' Documents How Self-Taught Filmmakers From Nigerian Hinterlands Became Astonishing Creative Force"
"Crocodile is a remarkable examination and celebration of a collective whose super low-budget sci-fi romps act both as a celebration of the films they love and the world they look to escape from."
Director Biographies
The Critics
The directors of Crocodile are also the subjects of the documentary feature film. Collectively known as The Critics, they began as young children in 2012 making short sci-fi films as a group of nine brothers, sisters and cousins living in Kaduna, Nigeria. They have now made 54 short films, and the core five remain as The Critics—Raymond Yusuff, Ronald Yusuff, Richard Yusuff, Godwin Josiah and Victor Josiah. Crocodile is their first feature film, and they are also currently in production on their first feature drama.
They have taught themselves all their film-making skills including directing, producing, cinematography, editing and post-production. In their own words, they are driven by "the desire to create magical experiences through film for ourselves and our community as a whole."
Their work is getting recognized internationally, winning awards such as the first Webby nomination from Nigeria (where as finalists they were up against the BBC and Art Basel), and winning Best Short Film and Best International Short Film at the African Smartphone International Film Festival and Indie Film Fest for their short films Z: The Beginning and Timothee.
Pietra Brettkelly
Pietra Brettkelly is an award-winning New Zealand documentary director and producer whose films—including Beauty Will Save the World, The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins, A Flickering Truth and Yellow Is Forbidden—have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca, with three Oscar submissions to her name. Her latest film, Crocodile, is executive produced by Idris Elba.
Credits
The Critics Are: Raymond Yusuff, Godwin Josiah, Ronald Yusuff, Victor Josiah, Richard Yusuff
Written by: Pietra Brettkelly
Producers: Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics
Cinematography: The Critics, Rachael Yusuff, Basile Carre-Agostini, David Wills Augustin
Editors: Chia Chi Hsu, Cushla Dillon, Nicolas Chaudeurge
Executive Producers: Sir Idris Elba, Fran Wyborn, Pietra Brettkelly, Chelsea Winstanley, Diene Petterle, Cushla Dillon, Kath Jones & Dave Long
Collaborators & Friends: The film was shaped by a circle of close collaborators and friends, including editors Maya Daisy Hawke, Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Molly M. Stensgaard and Jacob Schulsinger, and Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams, with Jane Campion also lending her eye to the edit. All stand ready to champion the film.
