Shorts Program 2: Go Back and Get It
New York African Film Festival 2026
May 6 - 12
An arrangement of short films retrieves the precious memories from the past. This program includes Femi Bajulaye and Emmanuel Oluwaseyi Bajulaye’s Ekun Omi, Josh Bridge’s Caleb, Judy Kibinge’s Goat, Karanja Ng’endo’s Of Kimani, Cecilia Zoppelletto’s Clichés, and Idris Elba’s Dust to Dreams.
Ekun Omi
Femi Bajulaye, Emmanuel Oluwaseyi Bajulaye, 2024, Nigeria/U.K., 24m
English and Yoruba with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Agboogun confronts sorrow, heartbreak, and existential neurosis, aided by two apparitions, as he and the intertwined lives of Lagbaja and Omotola grapple with migration and the sacrifices that shape identity.
Caleb
Josh Bridge, 2025, U.K., 10m
English and Yoruba with English subtitles
World Premiere
A grandson attempts to connect with his Nigerian grandmother as the woman he once knew quietly begins to fade.
Goat
Judy Kibinge, 2025, Kenya, 29m
English, Swahili, and Kikuyu with English subtitles
New York Premiere
City lovebirds Suki and Benjamin travel to a remote goat farm, only for Suki to realize this isn’t the romantic getaway she imagined. Watched over by a towering Mugumo tree and an unusual cast of farm residents, vegetarian Suki is horrified by the brutal slaughter of a goat, triggering visions of an ancestral debt and a desperate race to escape what her bloodline owes.
Of Kimani
Karanja Ng’endo, 2026, Kenya, 14m
Kikuyu with English subtitles
World Premiere
Now an aging couple, Wanjiru and Kimani navigate the routines of marriage amid Kimani’s early-onset dementia. A wedding outing brings unexpected closeness, reminding them of love, memory, and shared history.
Clichés
Cecilia Zoppelletto, 2025, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 15m
French and Lingala with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
In a Kinshasa house, a visit unfolds between two couples where everything seems in place, yet something is slightly off. At the center, Pamela navigates the expectations of love and the roles imposed on her. Fragments of a recent event begin to surface, unsettling the present.
Dust to Dreams
Idris Elba, 2025, Nigeria, 20m
New York Premiere
Dust to Dreams marks Idris Elba’s first short film, following his award-winning feature directorial debut Yardie in 2018. K.Kay’s, a Lagos nightclub pulsating with aspiring musicians, masks a family drama. Milli, the tough owner facing a terminal illness, entrusts her legacy—the club—to Bisi, her shy but talented daughter. The unexpected return of a long-lost father stirs old emotions and tensions. Could music become their path to healing? Dust to Dreams explores love, legacy, and ambition, showing how music can unite, heal, and mend even the deepest divides.
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