New York African Film Festival 2018
Tickets
The New York African Film Festival celebrates its milestone 25th edition. Co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the African Film Festival, Inc., the 2018 festival will feature new and classic African cinema, with a special focus on intergenerational discourse, featuring works by women and younger generations of African and diaspora artists. This year, the festival will also feature films that celebrate the centennial of Nelson Mandela. As in previous years, the festival program will include screenings and discussions with filmmakers and artists, panels, an art exhibit, and additional events at locations around the city.
Co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and African Film Festival, Inc.
Organized by Mahen Bonetti, Francoise Bouffault, Rumbi Bwerinofa-Petrozzello, Jacki Fischer, Dora King, Beatriz Leal-Riesco, and Dara Ojugbele, African Film Festival, Inc.
Borders
New York Premiere · Q&A with Apolline Traoré on May 16
Four women—Adjara, Emma, Sali, and Vishaa—meet while riding buses that cross West African borders, starting in Dakar and traveling, via Bamako, Cotonou, and Ouagadougou, to Lagos. Despite the gorgeous landscapes of the Atlantic coast and the Sahel, they experience much adversity along the way.
Wallay
New York Premiere · Skype Q&A with Berni Goldblat on May 18
Thirteen-year-old Ady no longer listens to his father, who is raising Ady on his own in France. Running out of resources, Ady’s father decides to entrust Ady to his Uncle Amadou for the summer. Amadou and his family live on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, in Burkina Faso.
Abderrahmane Sissako: Beyond Territories
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Valérie Osouf
In Valérie Osouf’s portrait of the world-renowned filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Life on Earth, Bamako, Timbuktu), we are invited not only into his physical territory but also his poetic and politically engaged terrain.
Baby Mamas
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Stephina Zwane
Baby Mamas is a comedic drama about the lives and loves of four professional women in Johannesburg, each in her own stage of “baby mama drama.”
Black Sun
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Alexander Markov
This long-unseen Russian drama, never before released in the U.S., follows the life and death of Robert Moussombe, the leader of an unnamed African state.
Burkinabè Rising
Skype Q&A with Serge Bayala
The beautifully filmed and intensely political documentary showcases the contemporary reality of creative nonviolent resistance in Burkina Faso, a small, landlocked country in West Africa that is home to a vibrant community of artists and engaged citizens.
The Delivery Boy
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Adekunle Adejuyigbe
Amir, a young orphan raised in an African extremist group, runs away on the eve of a suicide mission, taking his bomb vest with him. He has a mission of his own.
Five Fingers for Marseilles
New York Premiere · Q&A with Michael Matthews on May 19
Five Fingers for Marseilles, about a freedom-fighter-turned-outlaw reluctantly drawn back into conflict, fuses western influences for a contemporary South African crime drama with a local flavor.
Maki’la
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Machérie Ekwa Bahango on May 19
Nineteen-year-old Maki’la, nicknamed Maki, has been living on the streets since she was 13, and has long been friends with young hoodlum Mbingazor, who has become the boss of a criminal gang. Soon she escapes and, while in hiding, tries to start a new life.
Purple Dreams
Q&A with Joanne Hock
Stereotypes of black youth are turned upside down in this inspirational documentary shadowing six high-school students on an emotionally powerful, three-year journey of transformation that bears witness to the need for arts education in underserved communities.
Running After
New York Premiere · Q&A with Jeferson De
Eking out a living selling trinkets amidst the traffic-clogged streets of Rio de Janeiro, Paulo Gale sees an opportunity to change his life by becoming a football manager. Soon he discovers a remarkably talented boy and tries to make him a star.
Selbe: One Among Many
U.S. Premiere of Reissue in Wolof · Q&A with Safi Faye and Akosua Adoma Owusu
In focusing on the daily life of a Senegalese village woman, Selbe: One Among Many examines the economic and social roles rural African women are expected to play. This reissue marks the first time the film has been issued in its original Wolof language.
Tahar Cheriaa: Under the Shadow of the Baobab
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Mohamed Challouf
A documentary about Tahar Cheriaa, the undisputed father of Pan-Africanism and founder of Africa’s first film festival, is paired with Djibril Diop Mambéty’s film about the making of Idrissa Ouédraogo’s second feature, Yaaba.
The Wedding Ring
New York Premiere · Q&A with Rahmatou Keïta and Magaajyia Silberfeld
While waiting for her handsome suitor to arrive and hopefully propose marriage, a university student from an aristocratic family hears other women’s stories of love, marriage, and divorce in this compelling and revealing portrait of male-female relations in Sahelian society.
Wonder Boy for President
U.S. Premiere · Q&A with John Barker on May 18
A charismatic young man from the Eastern Cape is coerced into running for president by two corrupt characters in this political satire that delves into the dynamics and challenges of politics in contemporary South Africa.
Shorts Program 1—Quartiers Lointains: Self-Image
New York Premiere · Q&A with Claire Diao and Josza Anjembe
Quartiers Lointains, a media collective comprised of young Francophonie artists and professionals, curated this shorts program which highlights works by artists of bi-cultural descent who seek to understand and explore their dual identity and engage in a dialogue to better understand the Other.
Shorts Program 2—Najia (Nigerian) Stories
Q&A with Abbesi Akhamie, Gladys Edeh and Opiyo Okeyo
Short works by filmmakers in Nigeria or diasporic filmmakers making films about Nigerian subjects from around the world.
Shorts Program 3—New York Shorts
Q&A with Yusuf Kapadia, Sewra Kidane, Djali Brown-Cepeda, Djibril Drame, Mamedjarra Diop, Tim Naylor, Zainab Jah, Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood
A selection of shorts made by filmmakers of African descent living in New York.Tickets on sale now! To begin the purchase process, log in to your account. Don’t have an account? Sign up for one today.
To purchase tickets to individual films, please click on the “Films” or “Schedule” tabs at the top of this page and then click on your desired films or showtimes.
3+ Film Package – Tickets just $9 Members / $10 Students, Seniors, and Persons with Disabilities / $13 General Public.
Not a member? Take advantage of discounted tickets, early access periods, complimentary offers year-round, and more by becoming one today! Join here.
MoviePass is accepted at the Film Society of Lincoln Center for regularly-priced films and series. Admission is not guaranteed. For app-related customer support, contact MoviePass.
Tickets
New York African Film Festival 2023
The festival presents more than 30 films from more than 15 countries, inviting audiences to explore the infinite realms of African and diaspora storytelling. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2022
Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) will celebrate the kickoff of the 29th New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) at FLC from May 12 to 17. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2019
From the archival to the experimental, classic fictional narrative to documentary, the festival, now in its 26th year, selects treasured stories of the past to contextualize the present and all of its possible futures. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2018
The 25th edition of the festival will feature new and classic African cinema, with a special focus on intergenerational discourse, featuring works by women and younger generations of African and diaspora artists. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2017
The festival’s theme this year, “The Peoples’ Revolution,” illuminates the new wave of artists throughout Africa and its diaspora seeking reform and effecting it via sociopolitical action. These individuals exist where values of human rights, civic duty, and… Read More
New York African Film Festival 2016
The New York African Film Festival returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for its 23rd edition, bringing another thrilling and multifaceted selection of African films from the continent and the Diaspora to New York audiences. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2015
The New York African Film Festival returns to the Film Society for its 22nd edition, offering a selection of over 25 titles from more than 15 countries that reflects on the ways African men and women have broken through borders with films and narratives that form part of the global imagination. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2014
The core of the 21st New York African Film Festival is the experience of revolution and liberation in and from Africa in the 21st century. The festival presents a unique selection of contemporary and classic African films, running the gamut from features, shorts, and documentaries to animation and experimental films. In celebration of the centenary of Nigerian unification, look for a couple of films from Nollywood, Africa’s largest movie industry. Read More
New York African Film Festival 2013
The landmark 20th edition of the festival will pay homage to Ousmane Sembène and the first generation of African filmmakers, while passing the baton to a new generation of African visual storytellers who continue to transform our understanding of and vision for the Continent. Read More
