{ "_comment": "Add films with year and a unique slug, then run: python3 scripts/build-films.py. Filter chips grow from categories, or from tags that are not country names. Schedule lives in data/screenings.json (joined by filmSlug). Optional later fields: categories, programmeTags, code, yearMade, runtime, languages, access, logline, storyTitle, presentedAs, conversation.", "years": [ 2026 ], "defaultYear": 2026, "films": [ { "year": 2026, "slug": "ben-imana", "title": "Ben'Imana", "director": "Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo", "countries": "Rwanda", "synopsis": "In the years following the Genocide against the Tutsi community, a survivor leads dialogue between victims and the families of perpetrators, helping others rebuild their lives and look towards the future.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Rwanda" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/ben-imana.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v8pzJrmb_kACRBr2emsuuJDCkx98UJSZ/preview" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "black-zombie", "title": "Black Zombie", "director": "Maya Annik Bedward", "countries": "Haiti", "synopsis": "From the flickering screens of Hollywood horror to the haunted cane fields of colonial Haiti, Black Zombie unearths the buried origins of the zombie, reclaiming it as a symbol of survival and spiritual resistance.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Haiti" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/black-zombie.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/bknRXZSQOQg?start=2" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "one-woman-one-bra", "title": "One Woman, One Bra", "director": "Vincho Nchogu", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "The promise of land ownership could finally mean security or the loss of everything she calls home. As she searches for answers about her mysterious past, she is forced to navigate questions of identity, belonging, and family.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/one-woman-one-bra.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://next.frame.io/share/664e0476-da00-43fc-b495-cb52bc7b1aa6/view/e07ee399-80a3-4423-a82b-01f77613379b" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "lady", "title": "Lady", "director": "Olive Nwosu", "countries": "Nigeria", "synopsis": "A determined taxi driver in Lagos forms an unexpected bond with a group of free spirited women, leading her into a world of friendship and self discovery despite the risks along the way.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Nigeria" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/lady.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.filmafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/behind-the-palm-trees-trailer.mp4" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "vuta-nkuvute", "title": "Vuta N'kuvute", "director": "Amil Shivji", "countries": "Tanzania", "synopsis": "Love and revolution swirl against the warm tides of 1950s Zanzibar in Tanzania's first period drama.", "tags": [ "Lunchbox", "Fiction", "Tanzania" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/vuta-nkuvute.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RPvaE-aqmsOMguo6BMKm1S3iyV8JalCp/preview" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "laundry", "title": "Laundry", "director": "Zamo Mkhwanazi", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "In apartheid South Africa, a young man's aspirations as a musician clash with preserving his family's laundry business amid intensifying racial discrimination against Black entrepreneurs.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "South Africa" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/laundry.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/GKL7Q5AylYg" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "kamirithu-afterlives", "title": "Kamirithu Afterlives", "director": "Alexandria Majalla, Kenny Cupers", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "In 1970s Kenya, villagers build a people's theatre that the government soon tears down. Decades later, the actors reclaim a silenced history to imagine a collective future.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/kamirithu-afterlives.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://player.vimeo.com/video/1222273449" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "cotton-queen", "title": "Cotton Queen", "director": "Suzannah Mirghani", "countries": "Sudan", "synopsis": "In a cotton farming village in Sudan, Nafisa lives a simple life, picking cotton and learning from her grandmother. The arrival of a young Sudanese businessman threatens to change their way of life.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Sudan" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/cotton-queen.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9hs6eykgf1i2t2c55dyz1/AK3PYsQCK0cgAHGijEd6riw/6.%20TRAILER?dl=0&preview=CottonQueen_PressClip01_ENG_SUBS.mov&rlkey=in7pmyzol8kygea97984jfj3q&subfolder_nav_tracking=1" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "camp-de-thiaroye", "title": "Camp de Thiaroye", "director": "Ousmane Sembène, Thierno Faty Sow", "countries": "Senegal", "yearMade": 1988, "synopsis": "West African tirailleurs return from the Second World War to a transit camp near Dakar, where unpaid wages and colonial racism push them into a mutiny that ends in massacre.", "tags": [ "Lunchbox", "Fiction", "Senegal" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/camp-de-thiaroye.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP_dtqp8p34" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "cards-on-the-table", "title": "Cards on the Table", "director": "Victor Gatonye", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "In 1992 Nairobi, an ex-couple reunite for one last job — robbing the gate collections at a Christmas event — and old flames, a risky heist and unresolved feelings collide.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/cards-on-the-table.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVWtPqeUGQE" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "carissa", "title": "Carissa", "director": "Jason Jacobs, Devon Delmar", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "A young woman who dreams of leaving village life breaks away from her grandmother’s home, only to be drawn into the care of her grandfather’s mountain rooibos plantation.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "South Africa" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/carissa.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1O-3tBlz3cCvivrt9hxvm2-ZQiAlrJnRv" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "death-has-no-master", "title": "Death Has No Master", "director": "Jorge Thielen Armand", "countries": "Venezuela", "synopsis": "Caro travels to Venezuela to sell her late father’s cacao plantation, only to find the family mansion occupied by its former staff, who are determined to remain at all costs.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Venezuela" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/death-has-no-master.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://next.frame.io/share/11fd19a7-a4dc-473d-b708-a8b24f9848ab/view/086361a0-0605-4b85-9dcb-935273db79d1" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "if-i-were-alive", "title": "If I Were Alive", "director": "André Novais Oliveira", "countries": "Brazil", "synopsis": "Gilberto and Jacira have grown old together in Contagem. When Jacira is suddenly hospitalised, Gilberto begins to experience disturbing events that spiral through time and space.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Brazil" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/if-i-were-alive.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vhmc91youzweafrzc92ap/SEFVV_TSR_1080x1920p-24fps_20-QBP-EN_H264.mp4?rlkey=cay0wn6r0gnl5bzxihdf06y0r&st=o16yy76n&e=1&dl=0" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "my-fathers-shadow", "title": "My Father’s Shadow", "director": "Akinola Davies", "countries": "United Kingdom", "synopsis": "An estranged father struggles to reconnect with his sons as political unrest threatens to tear them apart on their journey home.", "tags": [ "Lunchbox", "Fiction", "United Kingdom" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/my-fathers-shadow.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://youtu.be/0kKLvaEWw3E" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "rumba-royale", "title": "Rumba Royale", "director": "Hamed Mobasser, Yohane Dean Lengol", "countries": "Democratic Republic of the Congo", "synopsis": "In 1959 Léopoldville, a young photographer documenting the city’s rumba nightlife becomes entangled in the fragile world of a legendary nightclub as colonial rule nears its end.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Democratic Republic of the Congo" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/rumba-royale.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ2Rxg4Ga3k" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "the-heart-is-a-muscle", "title": "The Heart Is a Muscle", "director": "Imran Hamdulay", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "At a barbecue, Ryan’s five-year-old son briefly goes missing. His violent reaction sets off a chain of events that unearths secrets from the past and a reckoning with forgiveness.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "South Africa" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/the-heart-is-a-muscle.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP21UOvCz0c" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "true-north", "title": "True North", "director": "Michèle Stephenson", "countries": "Canada", "synopsis": "Through archival footage and first-person testimony, the film revisits 1960s Montreal — the Congress of Black Writers and the Sir George Williams Affair — and the city’s place in the global Black liberation movement.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Canada" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/true-north.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etry9Qehz7Y" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "life-after-siham", "title": "Life After Siham", "director": "Namir Abdel Messeeh", "countries": "Egypt", "synopsis": "After his mother’s death, Namir retraces a family history between Egypt and France. Home movies, present-day moments with his father, and the cinema of Youssef Chahine become a story of exile, mourning, and love.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Egypt" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/life-after-siham.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Xl3fR5KmbMfrwouVo3J1lI6NM6LW9s1t" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "the-woman-who-poked-the-leopard", "title": "The Woman Who Poked The Leopard", "director": "Patience Nitumwesiga", "countries": "Uganda", "synopsis": "An intimate portrait of Ugandan scholar, poet, and activist Stella Nyanzi, who uses protest, poetry, and performance to confront state repression — even as she faces threats, imprisonment, and exile.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Uganda" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/the-woman-who-poked-the-leopard.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cyUBY4xgzoxJ-vH68PNKDaDn-MWxVvYY" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "my-father-and-qaddafi", "title": "My Father and Qaddafi", "director": "Jihan K", "countries": "Libya", "synopsis": "A daughter pieces together the life of Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Libya’s former foreign minister and opposition leader, after his 1993 disappearance — and her mother’s nineteen-year search to find him.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Libya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/my-father-and-qaddafi.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://vimeo.com/463859669?fl=pl&fe=vl" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "notes-from-the-underground", "title": "Notes from the Underground", "director": "Adrian Van Wyk, Chris Kets", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "A cross-generational oral history of Cape Town’s underground hip-hop scene, from the 1980s to today — rhythm, resistance, and mentorship as a living archive of the Cape Flats.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "South Africa" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/notes-from-the-underground.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://vimeo.com/1154309635" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "kikuyu-land", "title": "Kikuyu Land", "director": "Bea Wangondu, Andrew H. Brown", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A Nairobi journalist investigates a land battle between local claimants and a multinational tea corporation, uncovering colonial dispossession, corporate exploitation, and family secrets.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/kikuyu-land.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdUztX9eiAo" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "crocodile", "title": "Crocodile", "director": "The Critics, Pietra Brettkelly", "countries": "Nigeria", "synopsis": "In Kaduna, teenage filmmakers known as The Critics build handmade sci-fi worlds from almost nothing. Shot over thirteen years, the film follows their rise, rifts, and the work of growing up together.", "tags": [ "Lunchbox", "Documentary", "Nigeria" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/crocodile.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkMFbpCVHu8" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "and-she-didnt-die", "title": "And She Didn’t Die", "director": "Kethiwe Ngcobo", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "A daughter reconstructs the life of writer and resistance fighter Lauretta Ngcobo — from rural KwaZulu-Natal through exile in London — and the stories that kept Black women’s voices from being erased.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "South Africa" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/and-she-didnt-die.png", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://vimeo.com/1082314150/456adf52b3" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "call-me-queen", "title": "Call Me Queen", "director": "Emily Atef", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "In late-1990s Nairobi, Queen, a Rwandan single mother, and Anna, an Irish journalist, form a bond and take on the pharmaceutical powers withholding treatment as AIDS devastates their community.", "tags": [ "Special", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/special/call-me-queen.png", "excerpt": "", "runtime": "105 min" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "alain-gomis-retrospective", "title": "Alain Gomis: Cinema to Revisit", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France, Senegal", "kind": "programme-hub", "hubGroup": "retrospective", "listHidden": true, "synopsis": "A landmark retrospective of Alain Gomis — five films, each with its own screening. Book the titles you want to see.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/alain-gomis.png?v=hub", "excerpt": "Five films. Separate screenings. Book each one on its own." }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "lafrance", "title": "L’Afrance", "blockOrder": 1, "listGroup": "retrospective", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France, Senegal", "yearMade": 2001, "runtime": "90 min", "synopsis": "A Senegalese student in Paris waits for his papers. When the visa lapses, El Hadj is left between the life he is building and the country that may no longer have a place for him.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/lafrance.png", "excerpt": "2001" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "andalucia", "title": "Andalucia", "blockOrder": 2, "listGroup": "retrospective", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France, Senegal", "yearMade": 2007, "runtime": "90 min", "synopsis": "Yacine drifts through Paris after losing his job, crossing friends, strangers and a city that will not hold still — a portrait of exile made of wandering and chance.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/andalucia.png", "excerpt": "2007" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "tey", "title": "Tey", "blockOrder": 3, "listGroup": "retrospective", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France, Senegal", "yearMade": 2012, "runtime": "86 min", "synopsis": "Satché returns to Dakar knowing this is the day he will die. He walks the city to say goodbye — to his wife, his friends, and a life that still has one afternoon left.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/tey.png", "excerpt": "2012" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "felicite", "title": "Félicité", "blockOrder": 4, "listGroup": "retrospective", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France, Senegal", "yearMade": 2017, "runtime": "129 min", "synopsis": "A Kinshasa club singer whose son is badly injured must raise money for his treatment. Between hospital corridors and night-time sets, Félicité holds her world together by force of will.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/felicite.png", "excerpt": "2017" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "rewind-and-play", "title": "Rewind & Play", "blockOrder": 5, "listGroup": "retrospective", "director": "Alain Gomis", "countries": "France", "yearMade": 2022, "runtime": "65 min", "synopsis": "Outtakes from a 1969 French television interview with Thelonious Monk. What the broadcast cut away — discomfort, racism, control — becomes the film.", "tags": [ "Retrospective" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/retrospective/rewind-and-play.png", "excerpt": "2022" }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "family-block", "title": "Family Films", "director": "", "countries": "", "listGroup": "family", "runtime": "120–180 min", "synopsis": "A weekend programme for younger audiences. Two pairings play across the festival: Liyana with Stero, then Baada ya Masika with Vanille.", "tags": [ "Family" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/shorts/family-block.png?v=covers", "excerpt": "Two family programmes, each with its own screening times.", "shorts": [ { "title": "Liyana", "director": "Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp", "countries": "Eswatini", "synopsis": "Orphaned children in Eswatini invent a heroine named Liyana and follow her across a mythic landscape of loss, courage and return." }, { "title": "Stero", "director": "Tevin Kimathi, Millan Tarus", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "Speaking Kiswahili at school is forbidden. Bruce, with an imaginary sensei at his side, tries to become Stero — a small hero who honours his own language." }, { "title": "Baada ya Masika", "director": "Damien Hauser", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "In Watamu, ten-year-old Aisha is asked what she wants to be. While classmates name their parents’ trades, she dreams of becoming an actress — and of learning to fish." }, { "title": "Vanille", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" } ] }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "shorts-block", "title": "Shorts Block", "director": "", "countries": "", "kind": "shorts-hub", "listHidden": true, "synopsis": "Three short-film programmes, each with its own films and screening times. Choose the block that fits your festival days.", "tags": [ "Shorts Block" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/shorts/shorts-block-i.png?v=covers", "excerpt": "Block I, Block II and Block III screen on different days, venues and times." }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "shorts-block-i", "title": "Shorts Block I", "blockLabel": "Block I", "listGroup": "shorts", "blockOrder": 1, "director": "", "countries": "", "runtime": "99–121 min", "synopsis": "A shorts programme featuring Tracks; 10 Toes Down; Wa Kimani; Mr Rogers; Totally Torie; and One Last Order.", "tags": [ "Shorts Block" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/shorts/shorts-block-i.png?v=covers", "excerpt": "Featuring Tracks; 10 Toes Down; Wa Kimani; Mr Rogers; Totally Torie; One Last Order", "shorts": [ { "title": "Tracks", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "10 Toes Down", "director": "Ian Gituku", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "Rally driver and mechanic John Kadivane builds a team in his late father’s shadow, and a racing culture of his own." }, { "title": "Wa Kimani", "director": "Karanja Ng'endo", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "An older couple move through the routines of marriage as Kimani lives with early dementia, until a wedding ceremony brings their shared history back into reach." }, { "title": "Mr Rogers", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "Totally Torie", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "One Last Order", "director": "Sam Soko, Lauren De Filippo", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A short documentary of Sighle Williams’s final shift as a drive-thru worker, honoured by the community around her." } ] }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "shorts-block-ii", "title": "Shorts Block II", "blockLabel": "Block II", "listGroup": "shorts", "blockOrder": 2, "director": "", "countries": "", "runtime": "81–119 min", "synopsis": "A shorts programme featuring Goat; Souls of Fouta; Mwakenya; God Sleeps On Sundays; and An Open Field.", "tags": [ "Shorts Block" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/shorts/shorts-block-ii.png?v=covers", "excerpt": "Featuring Goat; Souls of Fouta; Mwakenya; God Sleeps On Sundays; An Open Field", "shorts": [ { "title": "Goat", "director": "Judy Kibinge", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "City lovebirds travel to a remote farm to buy a goat, and Suki finds an ancestral debt waiting under a sacred Mugumo tree." }, { "title": "Souls of Fouta", "director": "Alpha Diallo", "countries": "Senegal", "synopsis": "In a Fulani village, Penda and Moustapha wait for the body of their son. When he is refused the family grave, Penda fights for a burial with dignity." }, { "title": "Mwakenya", "director": "", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "God Sleeps On Sundays", "director": "Naishe Nyamubaya", "countries": "Zimbabwe", "synopsis": "An exiled preacher is sent to raise a church on land already held by a traditional healer, and a fight over ground becomes a fight over belief." }, { "title": "An Open Field", "director": "Teboho Edkins", "countries": "South Africa", "synopsis": "After the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, a filmmaker and his father travel to the site where grief meets a community that knows how to mourn." } ] }, { "year": 2026, "slug": "shorts-block-iii", "title": "Shorts Block III", "blockLabel": "Block III", "listGroup": "shorts", "blockOrder": 3, "director": "", "countries": "", "runtime": "117 min", "synopsis": "An adults-only shorts programme featuring The Big Sad Nairobi; Prayer; Window Shot; AAHI; The Invitation; Misunderstanding; The Break-In; and The Fortunate.", "tags": [ "Shorts Block" ], "image": "/assets/films/2026/shorts/shorts-block-iii.png?v=covers", "excerpt": "Featuring The Big Sad Nairobi; Prayer; Window Shot; AAHI; The Invitation; Misunderstanding; The Break-In; The Fortunate", "shorts": [ { "title": "The Big Sad Nairobi", "director": "Gift Kyansimire", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A stop-motion portrait of anxiety in the city — waking, working, and moving through an unfriendly political weather." }, { "title": "Prayer", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "Window Shot", "director": "Hosein Jalilvand", "countries": "Switzerland", "synopsis": "Archival films from 1950s Kenya turn settler windows into a lens on the Mau Mau uprising, and on who Western cinema cast as the villain." }, { "title": "AAHI", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "The Invitation", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "Misunderstanding", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "The Break-In", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" }, { "title": "The Fortunate", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "" } ] }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "shorts-block", "title": "Shorts Block", "director": "", "countries": "", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "Shorts Block", "Kenya", "Burundi" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/shorts-block.jpg", "excerpt": "Featuring: John, Johnny, Jonté; One Voice and What Belongs To Us", "shorts": [ { "title": "John, Johnny, Jonte", "synopsis": "John Johnny Johnté is a short documentary film that explores the real-life experiences of Kenyan youth, focusing on how social norms impact gender-based violence, sexual health, and economic empowerment. Centered on Nuru, a young woman navigating love, trauma, and identity, the film follows her as she confronts abuse, seeks healing, and reclaims her voice. A unique behind-the-scenes segment in the film offers a candid look at the creative process, deepening the film’s emotional and social resonance.", "director": "Joash Omondi", "countries": "Kenya", "image": "/assets/films/2025/john-johnny-jonte.jpg", "trailer": "https://app.mediasilo.com/review/68f355ffc60875620a89bb5d/5ab17deb-a218-4141-97a2-79b7d0728d23/f/deb648f0-e39f-432c-a15d-32e1cb32b67f" }, { "title": "One Voice", "synopsis": "One Voice is a powerful documentary that chronicles how Kenyan youth, united by online activism, led the country’s largest protest movement to challenge the finance bill 2024. Through intimate interviews and raw footage, it captures the bravery of young protesters; especially women who turned outrage over period poverty, maternal health, and economic injustice into a national call for accountability and dignity.", "director": "Joash Omondi", "countries": "Kenya", "image": "/assets/films/2025/one-voice.jpg", "trailer": "https://app.mediasilo.com/review/68f355ffc60875620a89bb5d/550ad8ec-2038-4372-9a5d-2d663fc1d955/f/bbdc199e-826a-4efe-93a8-1a5cee92020b" }, { "title": "What Belongs to Us", "synopsis": "Franck, 26, inherits a compromising envelope and must choose between survival and truth — at the risk of betraying his own blood.", "director": "Jean-Merci Namegabe and Christophe Nduwindavyi", "countries": "Burundi", "image": "/assets/films/2025/what-belongs-to-us.jpg", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TQkgf8EybvS-unbWUdr49hxhLPUr3CCV/preview" } ] }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "love-joy-power", "title": "Love, Joy + Power: Tools for Liberation", "director": "Daresha Kyi", "countries": "United States", "synopsis": "Amid political struggle, three visionaries turn love and joy into acts of resistance and freedom.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "United States" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/love-joy-power.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://player.vimeo.com/video/929955295?h=83d684b60c" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-ants", "title": "The Ants", "director": "Yassine Fennane", "countries": "Morocco", "synopsis": "At the border of hope and despair, three lives collide.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Morocco" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-ants.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/VRJqjWd0ZtA" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "tooth-for-tooth", "title": "Tooth for Tooth", "director": "Ottis Ba", "countries": "Senegal", "synopsis": "In Dakar, a man’s quest for dignity spirals into vengeance, blurring the line between faith, fate, and folly.", "tags": [ "Senegal", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/tooth-for-tooth.jpg", "excerpt": "" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "black-orpheus", "title": "Black Orpheus", "director": "Marcel Camus", "countries": "Brazil", "synopsis": "Amid Rio’s electrifying Carnival, a doomed love unfolds between a streetcar driver and a shy newcomer.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Brazil" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/black-orpheus.jpg", "excerpt": "" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "kizazi-moto", "title": "Kizazi Moto", "director": "Raymond Malinga", "countries": "", "synopsis": "A daring anthology of African futures, blending ancestral roots with bold new worlds.", "tags": [ "Children's Block", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/kizazi-moto.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IrhXzvQ1RDOFZeSrqc--NIAh7Beap8mY/preview" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "aisha-cant-fly-away", "title": "Aisha Can’t Fly Away", "director": "Morad Mostafa", "countries": "Tunisia, Egypt, France Tunisia France Egypt", "synopsis": "A young Somali woman is forced to choose between survival and integrity when local gangs tighten their grip on her community.", "tags": [ "Tunisia", "France", "Egypt", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/aisha-cant-fly-away.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/y5r9crhRkkU" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "uli-and-tata", "title": "Uli + Tata", "director": "Chief Nyamweya", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "Two spirited siblings journey across Africa collecting forgotten nursery rhymes", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Fiction", "Children's Block" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/uli-and-tata.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ge4Le8JEWE" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "open-your-eyes", "title": "Open Your Eyes", "director": "Neil Sandoz", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "Through basketball, residents of Kibera discover that challenges don’t make their dreams less possible but more meaningful.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/open-your-eyes.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/zudyjGIrVZI" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "koute-vwa", "title": "Kuote Vwa", "director": "Maxime Jean-Baptiste", "countries": "Belgium, France, French Guiana", "synopsis": "During his summer holidays in French Guiana, a young boy, becomes aware of the reasons why his family has been destroyed by a tragic death.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "France", "Belgium", "French Guiana" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/koute-vwa.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/OJAImcikY90" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-eyes-of-ghana", "title": "The Eyes of Ghana", "director": "Ben Proudfoot", "countries": "United States", "synopsis": "A filmmaker races against time to restore the lost films that could rewrite Africa’s history.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "United States" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-eyes-of-ghana.jpg", "excerpt": "" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-shadow-scholars", "title": "The Shadow Scholars", "director": "Eloise King", "countries": "United Kingdom, Kenya", "synopsis": "An Oxford professor investigates the hidden, global multi-billion dollar ‘fake essay’ industry in Kenya.", "tags": [ "Documentary", "United Kingdom", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-shadow-scholars.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/bLZCTERhImw" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "promised-sky", "title": "Promised Sky", "director": "Erige Sehiri", "countries": "Tunisia, France, Qatar France Tunisia", "synopsis": "In Tunis, four women bound by circumstance form an unlikely family, but looming crises force each to question where they truly belong.", "tags": [ "Qatar", "France", "Tunisia", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/promised-sky.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9197nkudax3ounh0uqslg/AAUggph43cXWJEjAjU3Vzn8/TRAILER/PROMISED%20SKY_Release-TRL_Desktop.mp4?rlkey=dxir5s2to95lx1af6liwlzto6&raw=1" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "mothers-of-chibok", "title": "Mothers of Chibok", "director": "Kachi Benshon", "countries": "Nigeria", "synopsis": "Four Nigerian mothers fight through a farming season with resilience and faith, refusing to let tragedy silence their hope.", "tags": [ "Nigeria", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/mothers-of-chibok.jpg", "excerpt": "" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-weekend", "title": "The Weekend", "director": "Daniel Oriahi", "countries": "Nigeria", "synopsis": "A tense weekend with the in-laws spirals into a gripping Nigerian thriller of secrets and survival.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "Nigeria" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-weekend.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/hMPnwVrWiBM" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "my-fathers-shadow", "title": "My Father’s Shadow", "director": "Akinola Davies", "countries": "United Kingdom", "synopsis": "An estranged father struggles to reconnect with his sons as political unrest threatens to tear them apart on their journey home.", "tags": [ "Fiction", "United Kingdom" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/my-fathers-shadow.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/0kKLvaEWw3E" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "its-a-free-country", "title": "It’s a Free Country", "director": "John ‘JJ’ Jumbi", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A small-time street gang links up with a mysterious young woman to survive the relentless pursuit of a powerful politician.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/its-a-free-country.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/7dBKKjQJGi0" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "memory-of-princess-mumbi", "title": "Memory of Princess Mumbi", "director": "Damien Hauser", "countries": "Kenya, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia Kenya Saudi Arabia Switzerland", "synopsis": "In a future where technology is outlawed, a young filmmaker learns that true storytelling comes not from machines, but from the human heart.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Saudi Arabia", "Switzerland", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/memory-of-princess-mumbi.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/S4ay7xulYLg" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-people-shall", "title": "The People Shall", "director": "", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-people-shall.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://next.frame.io/share/adce263f-162b-4da1-ae6c-99ed7293836f/view/914d090f-5498-4095-b2b0-c1d7ec36d040" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "widow-champion", "title": "Widow Champion", "director": "Zippy Kimundu", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A Kenyan widow becomes a fighter for women’s land rights in a deeply patriarchal community.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/widow-champion.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/nGn8IAL1I9c" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-fisherman", "title": "The Fisherman", "director": "Zoey Martinson", "countries": "Ghana", "synopsis": "A ghanaian fisherman teams up with a talking fish and a few companions for an adventure to Accra.", "tags": [ "Ghana", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-fisherman.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5WgJnPb3dA" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "the-dog", "title": "The Dog", "director": "Baker Karim", "countries": "Kenya, Sweden", "synopsis": "A drug dealer’s obsession with an escort blurs the line between love, control, and freedom.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Sweden", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/the-dog.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/AL7c1KwxEqk" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "sayari", "title": "Sayari", "director": "Omar Hamza", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "A runaway groom leads a small town BnB owner on an unexpected journey of love and self-discovery.", "tags": [ "Kenya", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/sayari.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/gEfxJud_5ZI" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "sugar-island", "title": "Sugar Island", "director": "Johanne Gomez Terrero", "countries": "", "synopsis": "On a remote tropical isle, two strangers’ fates intertwine as they fight for hope, redemption, and escape.", "tags": [ "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/sugar-island.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/QPWtdgE7Fbw" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "nana", "title": "Nana", "director": "Mathews Joseph Mkoga", "countries": "Tanzania", "synopsis": "In Dar Es Salaam’s perilous streets, Nana is torn between love and crime.", "tags": [ "Tanzania", "Fiction" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/nana.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/16k5oNX1rlmj5HIyGfnLl2djzMniQfnpB/preview" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "mother-city", "title": "Mother City", "director": "", "countries": "South Africa South Africa", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "South Africa", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/mother-city.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/YHntBFtN1H0" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "memories-of-love-returned", "title": "Memories of Love Returned", "director": "Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine", "countries": "Uganda", "synopsis": "In rural Uganda, a man stumbles into a photographer’s archive and embarks on a decades-long reckoning with art, memory and family.", "tags": [ "Uganda", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/memories-of-love-returned.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/AGouRmKhq6w" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "matabeleland", "title": "Matabeleland", "director": "", "countries": "Zimbabwe", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "Zimbabwe" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/matabeleland.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZQhSxsxppTE" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "how-to-build-a-library", "title": "How to Build a Library", "director": "", "countries": "Kenya", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "Opening Film", "Kenya" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/how-to-build-a-library.jpg", "excerpt": "" }, { "year": 2025, "slug": "khartoum", "title": "Khartoum", "director": "", "countries": "Sudan", "synopsis": "", "tags": [ "Sudan", "Documentary" ], "image": "/assets/films/2025/khartoum.jpg", "excerpt": "", "trailer": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/OMytTsr2psM" } ] }