Driven by jazz as a universal language, the short film Jazz Infernal follows the journey of a young Ivorian trumpeter navigating exile, integration, and Afro-descendant memory.
Premiered last week at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre and nominated in the short films category at TIFF 2025, the film was part of Short Cuts on September 4.
Directed by Canadian-Ivorian filmmaker Will Niava, Jazz Infernal tells the story of Koffi, the son of a legendary trumpet player, who must confront his father’s musical legacy while leaving behind the ghosts of the Ivory Coast. Through his journey, the film explores African diasporas and highlights the vibrancy of Montreal’s jazz culture.
Niava reflects on the place of new generations of immigrants, caught between memory, cultural transmission and identity-building in a city they are still learning to navigate. True to his approach, the director centres Black characters in the story, offering rare visibility to narratives too often marginalized.
Koffi is portrayed by Ange-Eric Nguessan, an Ivorian actor known for roles in the series Teenager and productions such as MTV Shuga Down South, Cacao and the film Jusqu’au Bout. Nguessan brings depth to Koffi, a young musician grappling with his father’s legacy while striving to assert himself on Montreal’s jazz stage.
'Jazz infernal'
I attended the opening screening as a guest of director Will Niava (who I know personally in Montreal), and spoke to him about the film's deep roots in his personal history.
“It’s a very intimate story," he says. "I wanted to retrace my first steps in Canada as an immigrant. After my father passed away, I found a way to reinvent that experience. My father was a fan of Jazz. It was this music that connected us. He listened to Miles Davis, Nat King Cole… Every time I hear jazz, I think of him."
Jazz Infernal tells the story of a young trumpeter who cannot play until he has mourned his father. While grounding the story in this personal intimacy, Niava expresses his grief through sound and image, with music playing almost continuously, setting the tempo and mood for the entire film.
To bring this vision to life, Niava enlisted composer and trumpeter Hichem Khalfa, supported by a talented ensemble including Theo Abellard on piano, Edouard Touchette on trombone, Remi-Jean Leblanc on double bass, Ronny Desinor on drums, and Alexandre Colas-Jeffery on saxophone. Additional contributions came from Sandro Guedy and Remi Turcotte, while the musical demos featured Alexandre Le Blanc on bass, Fritz Anthony Pageot on drums, and David Osei-Afrifa on piano. Although none of the cast could really play an instrument, Niava was determined to make the score entirely original.
“Music is as important as the visuals," he says. "It's 50-50 for me. Hichem has a unique way of composing, sometimes with a playful touch. It’s incredible to see how music transforms a film’s energy.”
This rich sonic landscape underscores the ambition of a timeless film. Niava says he wanted to transcend eras, like jazz itself. But it does reflect his experiences in Montreal. Jazz Infernal, he says, is a way to revisit the city through musical memory.
"Montreal is legendary for jazz: Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones, even Louis Armstrong passed through," he says. "I was deeply inspired by this Black jazz history in Montreal, often overlooked or scarcely told.”
The only live-action short in the TIFF selection from Quebec, Jazz Infernal weaves together cultural references, echoes of Montreal’s musical history and a deeply personal reflection on exile. Music does more than accompany the images. In smoky clubs and nighttime streets, it becomes a driving narrative force, expressing the dreams, struggles, and resilience of Afro-descendant communities.
