Film Africa 2025 celebrates the best of African cinema across the continent (14 – 23 Nov)
Presented by the Royal African Society (https://RoyalAfricanSociety.org/), Film Africa 2025, the UK and Europe’s leading film festival celebrating African and African diaspora cinema, returns to London from 14–23 November. For 10 days, the festival will showcase the richness, diversity, and inventiveness of African filmmaking, with over 50 films and special events including features, documentaries, and shorts from more than 20 countries: from Morocco to South Africa, Nigeria to Congo. Other highlights include a tribute to the late Souleymane Cissé, the legendary Malian filmmaker whose groundbreaking work redefined African cinema; a BAFTA masterclass with Nigerian director Kunle Afolayan, exploring his pioneering role in shaping contemporary Nollywood; and the Symposium: African Cinema and Liberation, a landmark conversation between Sir John Akomfrah and Billy Woodberry on the power of cinema to reclaim agency and resist colonial narratives.
“African cinema is entering a period of tremendous creative expansion. We are seeing bold experimentation in form, genre, and distribution, with filmmakers blending realism, mythology, and futurism in entirely new ways. Film Africa’s role is to support this evolution, not only as a showcase but as a network that connects artists, institutions, and audiences. We aim to foster dialogue, collaboration, and visibility for African filmmakers on a global scale.” said festival curator Keith Shiri.
Opening&Closing Films
Opening Film Africa (BFI Southbank, 14 Nov) is My Father’s Shadow (2025, Nigeria/UK) (https://apo-opa.co/47dXQpt), the UK’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature at the 98th Academy Awards. This bold and poetic feature debut, directed by British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. and co-written with his brother Wale Davies, is set in Lagos during the turbulent 1993 Nigerian election crisis. The semi-autobiographical story follows a father, estranged from his two young sons, as they navigate a city on the brink of political unrest while attempting to return home. Starring Sope Dirisu (Slow Horses, Gangs of London) and real life brothers Chibuike Marvellous Egbo and Godwin Egbo, the screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Akinola Davies Jr.
Macbeth has inspired generations of filmmakers, including Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa and Roman Polanski, and now its timeless story of ambition and fate finds new expression in Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions (2025, Burkina Faso) (https://apo-opa.co/43xS3Zq), which closes the festival with its UK premiere (BFI Southbank, 23 Nov). Reimagining Shakespeare’s tragedy in an African kingdom, the film follows a general appointed by his king after a failed coup, only to be haunted by a prophecy that he will seize the crown or die trying. Shot in black and white, Katanga explores loyalty, ambition, and the fragility of human nature by blending Shakespearean drama with the mythic spirit of West African storytelling. Directed by acclaimed Burkinabé filmmaker Dani Kouyaté, the film is one of the continent’s few Shakespeare adaptations for the screen. Kouyaté will join the BFI premiere for a post-screening Q&A. Katanga has topped the list of nominees at the African Movie Academy Awards with 10 award nominations.
Spotlight on the Democratic Republic of Congo
This year’s Film Africa spotlight is on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), celebrating a nation with a powerful cinematic voice with a mix of features and shorts. The Tree of Authenticity (2025, DRC/Belgium) (https://apo-opa.co/47IGzoq), the debut feature by acclaimed visual artist and photographer Sammy Baloji, excavates the colonial legacies embedded in the Congo Basin, the world’s second largest tropical forest. Drawing on century-old archives, the film unfolds through three voices: Paul Panda Farnana – who is known as the first Black Belgian Colonial civil servant – Abiron Beirnaert, who worked between 1910 and 1950, and finally, an ancient tree – The Tree of Authenticity – that bears witness to it all. Through these voices, the film looks at how colonialism harmed both people and the environment, and how that damage is still felt today (Riverside Studios, 15 Nov).
Also rooted in Congo’s landscape is Jean-Gabriel Leynaud’s Of Mud and Blood (2025, DRC/France/Germany) (https://apo-opa.co/3L9GTnv), a raw, unflinching portrait of life in the mountain village of Numbi, where miners dig by hand for coltan, the grey gold that powers our modern world. Sensitive and deeply moving, the documentary captures the human cost of global consumption, revealing a story of exploitation, endurance, and fragile hope that we cannot look away from (Riverside Studios, 20 Nov).
Lobito Bound: A journey to Africa’s new frontier (2025, DRC/UK) (https://apo-opa.co/4htGZlU) follows British-Jamaican explorer Dwayne Fields on a 4000km journey across Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania to investigate the Lobito Corridor, a vast new trade route set to reshape Africa’s role in the global economy. As Fields meets the communities poised on the edge of transformation, the film exposes the human face of a project that intertwines environmental promise, geopolitical ambition, and the future of the planet itself (Ritzy Picturehouse Brixton, 19 Nov).
Throughout the festival, The Africa Centre will be holding Congo RE-Vue, a free digital photo exhibition showcasing the bold vision of emerging Congolese photographers who are redefining how their country is seen.
Films about women
Promised Sky (2025, France/Tunisia/Qatar) (https://apo-opa.co/47uMMD4) by French-Tunisian filmmaker Erige Sehiri, follows an Ivorian pastor, Marie, who has built a refuge in Tunis for two women: Naney, a young mother seeking a better future, and Jolie, a determined student carrying her family’s hopes. When a shipwreck survivor joins their fragile household, tensions rise in a society marked by xenophobia and inequality, testing the women’s faith, resilience, and solidarity (Rich Mix, 17 Nov). The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
In NAWI (2024, Kenya/Germany, dir. Toby Schmutzler/Kevin Schmutzler/Vallentine Chelluget/Apuu Mourine) (https://apo-opa.co/47deeq9) a young girl sold for livestock by her father escapes her impending marriage and embarks on a perilous journey toward Nairobi, determined to reclaim her dream of going to school. Set in the striking landscapes of northern Kenya’s Turkana region, the film confronts the realities of child marriage and celebrates a girl’s courage to rewrite her destiny (Riverside Studios, 19 Nov).
Based on Alexandra Fuller’s memoir of the same name, Embeth Davidtz’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (2024, South Africa) (https://apo-opa.co/3X19wWu) captures the childhood of eight-year-old Bobo on her family farm in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) at the end of the Zimbabwean War for independence in 1980. Conflicted by her love for people on opposing sides, she tries to make sense of her life in a magical way, as the film traces Rhodesia’s final days and the deep scars war leaves on those who survive it (Riverside Studios, 17 Nov).
Aicha (2024, Tunisia/France/Italy/Saudi Arabia/Qatar) (https://apo-opa.co/4nl3E57) – which means ‘alive’ in Arabic – is inspired by a news story from 2019 that shook public opinion in Tunisia and intrigued director, Mehdi M. Barsaoui. Aya, in her late twenties, still lives with her parents in southern Tunisia and feels trapped in a life without prospects. One day, the minibus that takes her between her town and the hotel where she works, crashes. As the sole survivor, she realises this could be her chance to start a new life. She flees to Tunis under a new identity, but everything is soon turned upside down when she becomes the main witness to a police blunder (Ritzy Picturehouse Brixton, 15 Nov).
Films about Sudan
Egyptian filmmaker Morad Mostafa’s directorial debut Aisha Can’t Fly Away (2025, Egypt/Sudan/Tunisia/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France/Germany) (https://apo-opa.co/4oEQUYb) tells the story of a 26-year-old Sudanese caregiver living in a neighbourhood in the heart of Cairo where she witnesses rising tensions between her fellow African migrants and local gangs (Ritzy Picturehouse Brixton, 16 Nov). The film had its world premiere at Un Certain Regard in Cannes this year.
Khartoum (2025, Sudan/Germany/UK/Qatar) (https://apo-opa.co/4qEbZE7) brings together the perspectives of five Sudanese citizens, a civil servant, a tea vendor, a resistance volunteer, and two street boys whose lives are turned upside down as war overtakes their city. Filmed on donated iPhones by Sudanese filmmakers Anas Saeed, Rawia Al Hag, Ibrahim Snoopy and Timeea M. Ahmed in collaboration with Phil Cox, the film combines street realism, animation, and reconstructed dreamscapes to portray both the resilience and the dislocation of a nation in turmoil (Riverside Studios, 18 Nov, Rich Mix, 21 Nov).
Shorts
The festival will celebrate the best of Africa’s short films with over 20 being showcased. Here is a taste of some of them. In Adinkra (2025, UK), the directorial debut of Golda Kesse, a young British-Ghanaian woman, Samira, is reunited with an old friend, Karim, who draws her into a web of mystery surrounding her family history and helps her reconnect with the power of her cultural identity. Kesse explores the lasting wisdom of heritage within diasporic communities, with a score that fuses West African and English sounds to mirror the film’s themes of belonging and identity.
In Aïcha (2025, Morocco) (https://apo-opa.co/432Kbir), Sanaa El Alaoui examines the strained bond between a 17-year-old girl and her emotionally distant mother in the aftermath of a tragedy. Seeking to process her grief, the mother turns to rituals and spiritual practices, uncovering paths to healing. Building on the success of her award-winning short Icarus (2020), El Alaoui aims to challenge stereotypes and bring Moroccan stories to light in new, authentic ways.
Forty Days Road (2025, Morocco/Germany), by Moroccan director and animal activist Ali Ziani, exposes the brutal conditions endured by camels transported from the Sudanese border to a sprawling market near Cairo. Following two men accompanying the animals on their 24-hour journey, the film continues Ziani’s mission to reveal the cruelty of the global animal trade across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
In Why the Cattle Wait (2024, South Africa), Phumi Morare of South Africa reimagines a Nguni myth about a goddess who urges her human lover to join her in the eternal world before she destroys the earth. Morare, winner of an NAACP award and Oscar-shortlisted for When the Sun Sets, explores the Black female gaze and the quiet heroism of ordinary women.
Baratani (2025, Botswana) (https://apo-opa.co/47pLCsv), by Botswana writer-director Moreetsi Gabang, offers a contemporary retelling of the folktale Lentswe la Baratani following a young man’s desperate attempt to convince the woman he loves to flee with him on the day of her arranged marriage.
Tribute to Souleymane Cissé
Souleymane Cissé, the legendary Malian filmmaker who died in February 2025 aged 85 redefined African cinema and brought it global recognition with his groundbreaking films. The festival will screen a restored copy of his celebrated film Yeleen (The Light) that won the Jury Award at Cannes 1987, making him the first film-maker from sub-Saharan Africa to win an award at the prestigious festival. His first feature film, Den Muso (1975) was banned by the Malian authorities, and Cissé was jailed for having accepted French funding. He wrote the screenplay for his second film, Baara, while in prison. The tribute will take place at the University of East Anglia on 20 November.
Kunle Afolayan Masterclass
On 17 November, Film Africa together with BAFTA is hosting a special masterclass with Kunle Afolayan, whose work embodies the energy, ambition, and artistry of contemporary African cinema. Afolayan redefined Nollywood by fusing local narratives with universal themes and technical innovation, demonstrating that African popular cinema can be both commercially successful and artistically ambitious. In conversation with film and television executive Tendeka Matatu, Afolayan will discuss his distinctive storytelling approach, his Netflix collaborations (Swallow, 2021; Aníkúlápó, 2022; and Ijogbon, 2023) and his mission to inspire the next generation of African filmmakers. His breakthrough feature The Figurine (2009) will be screened at the festival.
Beyond the Screen
Film Africa is a hub for dialogue, and the festival thrives on conversations. Q&A sessions and panels will bring audiences face-to-face with filmmakers, offering insights into creative processes and thematic choices.
The intellectual centrepiece of the festival will be the Symposium: African Cinema and Liberation at London School of Economics (22 November, 1-5pm) featuring a landmark conversation between celebrated artist-filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah and pioneering American filmmaker Billy Woodberry. Both are giants in their fields: Akomfrah has used the moving image as a form of historical reparation, transforming archives into poetry, while Woodberry, a founding figure of the L.A. Rebellion and director of Bless Their Little Hearts and Mário, has dedicated his career to portraying Black experience and anti-colonial struggle through the lens of Third Cinema. Together, they will explore the role of cinema in resisting colonial narratives, reimagining freedom, and advancing African cultural sovereignty.
FULL PROGRAMME AND TRAILER HERE : https://apo-opa.co/4oH7AhR
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Royal African Society.
Additional Photos: https://apo-opa.co/432Ktpx
Please note the programme may be subject to change
Media Contact:
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Marcello Aisoni
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About Film Africa:
Film Africa is London’s biggest biennial festival celebrating the best African cinema from across the continent and diaspora brought to you by the Royal African Society. Established in 2011, the festival brings diverse London and UK audiences a high-quality and wide-ranging film program accompanied by a vibrant series of events, including director Q&As, talks, and panel discussions; workshops and masterclasses; Film Africa Young Audiences school screenings and family activities; and Film Africa LIVE! music nights. Film Africa also recognises and supports new film-making talent through the Baobab Award for Best Short Film and the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.
About The Royal African Society:
The Royal African Society, established in 1901, is one of the UK’s oldest and most respected institutions dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of Africa and fostering stronger relations between the UK, Africa, and the wider world. Through conferences, cultural festivals, publications, and policy dialogues, the Society brings together business leaders, artists, academics, policymakers and civil society to showcase Africa’s achievements and address its challenges.
About Keith Shiri, Lead Curator of Film Africa 2024:
Keith Shiri is a Zimbabwean film curator and programme advisor to several film festivals, including the London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou and Tampere Film Festival.
