A start-up gets boycotted by unfavorable government laws, causing a ripple effect in the lives of nine individuals in this fast-paced, electric thriller shot on location in Lagos.

Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s intimate, nuanced documentary about the transformative power of photography was named best documentary at the Africa International Film Festival.

This program of short films by and/or about African women includes Kagure N. Kabue’s Iron Fist, Anil Padia and Michael Mwangi Maina’s Temple Road, Dika Ofoma’s God’s Wife, Zoé Cauwet’s Le Grand Calao, Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda’s We Will Be Who We Are, and Mariame N’diaye’s Sira.

After saying no on her wedding day, Aya leaves the Ivory Coast for Guangzhou’s “Chocolate City,” where African and Chinese cultures converge, and finds love blossoming with the owner of a tea shop.

Touda dreams of becoming a Sheikha—a respected Moroccan performer inspired by fierce female poets before her. Singing nightly in provincial bars, she yearns to leave her village for Casablanca, seeking artistic recognition and a better life for herself and her son.

A traditional fisherman’s life takes a whimsical turn as he is partnered with a talking fish. Filled with laughter, magic, and the rich culture of Ghana, The Fisherman is a heartwarming tale of family, resilience, and the enduring spirit of a true fisherman.

The latest from Fatou Cissé, daughter of Souleymane Cissé, uses the parallel stories of two young women to confront the psychological consequences of forced marriage, offering a poignant and urgent reflection on gender, autonomy, and resistance within a patriarchal society.

Mwezé Ngangura’s modern comic fairy tale, set in the vibrant African emigré demimonde of contemporary Europe, follows an African king who embarks on a trip to Belgium and confronts the best and worst of the Black diaspora.

Congolese history and Belgium’s ghosts intertwine with the story of a writer in Brussels who is inspired by his vision of complex and tormented souls that he meets at all proverbial and literal crossings.

When an idealistic writer is jailed by the military after his mediation to stop a civil war is misconstrued as support for the rebels, his ideals are put to the ultimate test as he battles for his sanity and his life. Based on the harrowing prison memoir by Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.

David-Pierre Fila’s documentary on the visionary Congolese filmmaker Mweze Ngangura unfolds as a meditation on history, politics, cinema, image, and time.

Saint-Louisians and historians tell us the rich and complex saga of Ndar—the original name of Saint-Louis, Senegal, the port of colonial penetration into West Africa four centuries ago—in Ousmane William Mbaye’s powerful documentary.

Nelson Makengo’s first feature documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival Panorama, is a vivid portrait of the challenges Kinshasa’s residents face as construction on a power station leaves them trapped in darkness.

In the heart of the Congo rainforest, the remains of a research center dedicated to tropical agriculture reveals the burden of the colonial past and its inextricable links to contemporary climate change. Preceded by Leonardo Gámez Gil’s The Planet of Water and Laura Bermúdez’s La Serpiente de Shelmeca.

This program of diaspora short films from around the globe includes Ahmed Samir’s Grandma, Francis Y. Brown’s Blinded by the Lights, Adesola Thomas’s Sister Salad Days, Devin Powell’s Where Are You From?, Shawn Antoine II’s Green Bay, Rhys Aaron Lewis’s Run Like We, and Hans Augustave’s Nwa (Black).

This collection of short films from South Africa includes Ntokozo Mlaba’s The Passage, Phumi Morare’s Why the Cattle Wait, Michelle Name and Onke Meje’s Intsikelelo Yamanzi, Nduduzo Shandu’s Gogo, Zanatany, Hachimiya Ahamada’s Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper, Kgomotso Sekhu’s Shap Shap, and Zoe Ramushu’s Damsel, Not in Distress.

Marking a century of history, culture, and resistance, this short film program honoring the visionaries and movements that shaped the past and continue to inspire the future includes films by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, Lebert Bethune, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Lou de Lemos.

This panel will offer a rare opportunity to reflect on the creative shifts and enduring themes shaping African cinema today.

The free art exhibition “All Night We Waited for Morning, All Morning We Waited for Night” is a welded steel light sculpture and animated video that reflects on African resistance, migration, and global interconnectedness.

Congo RE-Vue is a free, dynamic digital photo exhibition dedicated to highlighting the vibrant talent of the next generation of Congolese artists.