‘Bigger Than Africa’ Documentary Airing On Public Television Stations Across America For Black History Month

Photos: American Public Television BOSTON (February 9, 2026) — Bigger Than Africa, Toyin Ibrahim Adeyeke’s award-winning documentary about the enduring influence of the Yoruba culture, will air on public television stations across the U.S. as part of Black History Month programming (check local listings). Distributed by American Public Television (APT), the film will be also available for two years on PBS.org and the PBS Video app (available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO).   When the slave ships docked in North America, Brazil and the Caribbean, Africans carried with them hundreds of cultures, traditions and belief systems. But it was the Yoruba culture, in particular, which survived slavery to take root across the New World. Featuring interviews with experts including Afrobeat musician and activist Femi Kuti, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel Laureate and playwright Wole Soyinka, Bigger Than Africa traces the journey from the “ports of no return” in West Africa to destinations across the Americas, and back again, revealing how Yoruba identity, spirituality and traditions endured, evolved in the diaspora and continue to thrive today. Bigger Than Africa, which has been screened at the United Nations, won Best Documentary at Charlotte Black Film Festival, the Jury Special Award at the Festival International du Film Panafricain de Cannes and Best Documentary at the International Houston Black Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film was produced by Motherland Productions Inc. “Bigger Than Africa is a unifying documentary,” said Adekeye, a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles–based director. “It helps West Africans understand what became of those taken during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, while giving descendants of the enslaved a deeper sense of the lives, cultures and histories that came before the Americas and are woven into their very being.” For more information on APT, visit https://aptonline.org/ and follow @AmericanPublicTV on Facebook and @ampublictv on Instagram. Reach Motherland Productions Inc. at http://www.motherlandproductions.com and follow @ib.oluwatoyinmotherland on Facebook, @motherlandproductions on Instagram and @motherland.prod on TikTok. ABOUT AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and nearly one-half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT’s diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children’s series and news and current affairs programs. America’s Test Kitchen, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, The Chavis Chronicles, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Doc Martin, Hope Street, Lidia’s Kitchen, Midsomer Murders, My Life is Murder, Pati’s Mexican Table, The Real Wild West, Rick Steves’ Europe, Samantha Brown’s Places to Love, Table for All with Buki Elegbede, Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming — and WORLD, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. More information at APTonline.org  The Port of No Return of the Republic of Benin in Toyin Ibrahim Adeyeke’s Bigger Than Africa The film features interviews with the likes of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Afrobeat musician and activist Femi Kuti and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka  in Toyin Ibrahim Adeyeke’s Bigger Than Africa