Wikipedia portal for content related to African cinema
The next edition will be published January, 2025.
African Film and Television Portal
14th ed. | Updated biweekly | November 11- 24, 2024
Featured Biography
Apolline Traoré in 2017
Apolline Traoré (born in May 1976) is a Burkinabe film director. Her film career started in the 2000s in the United States, where she attended college, directing several short films including Kounandi (2003), which was selected for the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.
Her first feature film, Sous la clarté de la lune (2004), was co-written with and produced by Idrissa Ouédraogo, one of the Burkina Faso's best-known directors. In the late 2010s, she gained wider acclaim with Moi Zaphira (2013) and Frontières (2018), which follows four women from different regions who develop friendships during a bus journey across West Africa, The film was awarded two prizes at 2017 Fespaco, Africa’s largest film festival.
Her most recent film Sira (2023), about a young Fulani woman who fights against Islamist terrorists after a deadly attack on her caravan in the Sahel, is Traoré's most lauded film to date. It had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Panorama Audience Award for Best Feature Film and was selected as the Burkinabé entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards—the first time Burkina Faso submitted a film since 1989.
In 2021, 2022, and 2023 AFDA was ranked among the top 5 most innovative South African educational institutions in the creative brand space in The Loeries Official Rankings.
Jahmil X.T Qubeka, 2014 Best Director Honoree for The Queenstown Kings
The 20th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) took place November 2nd, 2024. Among the biggest winners was the Nigerian drama The Weekend which took home the Best Film Award for both Nigeria and Africa. Nigerian filmmaker Femi Adebayo received the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for his performance in the historical drama Jagun Jagun, a film he also directed and among the most nominated films of the evening. Ghana’s Jackie Appiah received Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Red Carpet, and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka was honored as Best Director for The Queenstown Kings, a Netflix South African sports drama.
Half Heaven (2023), a Cameroon christian drama directed by Enah Johnscott, was winner of five awards at the 28th edition of the Écrans Noirs film festival. The awards included one in the Jury Prize for International Feature award, the Best Central African Feature Award, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, and the Jury Prize from the African Federation of Film Critics.
Nollywood filmmaker Dimeji Ajibola (b. 15 April 1980) died on November 3rd. He was known for directing Hoodrush (2012), Nigeria’s first urban musical film; Ovy’s Voice, the highest-ranked movie on Iroko TV in 2017, and more recently in 2023, Wura a Showmax original Nigerian soap opera and adaptation of the South Africa’s The River; Slum King, a lagos-based crime series; and Netflix’s crime thriller series Shantytown. His last film was the 2024 drama Saving Onome released on Amazon Prime Video about two parents (Olumide Oworu and Nancy Isime)) who go to desperate lengths to save their daughter.
Hind Meddeb, director of Sudan, Remember US
The Marrakesh International Film Festival runs Nov. 29 to Dec. 7 with a line up of more than 70 films. The 6-member international jury will include Moroccan actress Nadia Kounda (Volubilis and My Dad Is Not Dead). Among the films sreening are Across the Sea directed by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi, a melodrama that follows the clandestine life of a Moroccan immigrant in Marseille; the documentary, Sudan, Remember Us by Hind Meddeb; The Village Next to Paradise, Mo Harawe’s tale of love and resilience in Somalia; Perfumed with Mint, the debut feature of Muhammed Hamdy: and Dania Reymond-Boughenou's supernatural Silent Storms starring Shirine Boutella, Khaled Benaïssa, and singer-turned-actress Camélia Jordana.
The 13th edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) closed out on November 9th after 160 films were screened. Among the winners were Phoenix Fury by Ifeoma N. Chukwuogo (of the award-winning 2017 short Bariga Sugar and the thriller series Diiche) which took top awards for Best Film and Best Director. Uzoamaka Onuoha won Best Actress for her role in the supernatural thriller Agemo. Ntware Mwine won Best International Documentary for Memories of loved Returned about the Ugandan photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo; and Bode Asiyanbi for Best Screenplay for the Awam Amkpa-directed film The Man Died based on Wole Soyinka’s 1972 book of the same title that recounts his experiences in prison during the Nigerian Civil War.
The story draws inspiration from (and is set in) the city of Lagos, Nigeria, due to its being the country's culture capital, and due to both its mainland and island areas having a unique, distinct feel that Iwaju's creative team felt provided an ideal base for the story. The series includes an original score composed by Ré Olunuga.
Through its two main characters—Tola (voiced by Gbadamosi), a spirited young girl from the affluent island, and her best friend Kole (voiced by Soetan), a gifted techie—Iwájú explores themes of inequality and class divide, which director and Kugali co-founder Ziki Nelson described as "the everyday reality of life in Nigeria and other parts of the world". The series also explores how those issues affect everyday society, as well as challenging the status quo. Nelson said the show is about "inspiration, or aspiration and desire, to try and engineer society for living in a more positive way".
Iwájú was written by Olufikayo Adeola and Halima Hudson from a story by Adeola, Hamid Ibrahim, and Toluwalakin Olowofoyeku and directed by Adeola
Lula Ali Isamail, nicknamed the “First Lady of Djibouti Cinema” for directing the country’s first feature film (the 2018 award-winning Dhalinyaro) has been selected to direct the screen adaption of The Youth of God, a novel by Somali-Canadian author Hassan Ghedi Santur. The novel, which follows a 17-year-old Canadian-Somali confronting the challenges of religious radicalization, was longlisted for Canada Reads in 2020 and was a finalist for the 2019 Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award for Excellence in African Writing.
The Blue Caftan (2022) by Maryam Touzani has sold the most overseas tickets of any recent Moroccan film (over 500,000). In 2023 it became the first Moroccan film to be shortlisted for the Oscars. The film centers on an unusual love triangle involving a closeted gay tailer of silk caftans, his wife and their apprentice.
Charmaine Bingwa (b. 13 Nov 1984) is a Zimbabwean-Australian actress, writer and director. She is known for her breakthrough role as Carmen Moyo in The Good Fight TV series and in film roles that include Black Box (2020) a science fiction horror film directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. and co-staring Mamoudou Athie; Emancipation (2022) alongside Will Smith; and Netflix's Rwandan Genocide-set drama Trees of Peace (2022). She is also the writer, director and star of the Little Sistas series, winner of Best Screenplay at the LGBT Toronto Film Festival in 2018.
“Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools for changing perception of Africa and allowing a complex, rich self exploration of its history and unique culture. Its boundless possibilities to give Africa it’s own voice is what brought me to writing and acting."
Danai Gurira, Actress, Playwright, Activist, and Artistic Director of Almasi Collaborative Arts
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Featured Film Score
Saïd Hamich Benlarbi and Ayoub Gretaa at Across the Sea premiere Cannes 2024
Told as a triptych with each chapter named after one of the three main characters, the film centers on a love triangle that develops between Nour (Ayoub Gretaa), a young man from Morocco who came to Marseille as an illegal immigrant in the 1990s; Serge (Grégoire Colin), a closeted bisexual police officer; and Noémie (Anna Mouglalis), Serge's wife.
Raï, a popular genre of Algerian music, plays throughout the film and is integral to the story according to Hamich:
Raï music was one of the main driving forces behind this project. Since it experienced its golden age in Marseille in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was important for me to root this music (and the city of Marseille) in the present and in the daily lives of my characters. Raï went into exile in France, and even "reinvented" itself through exile. Many of the songs deal with these themes in a very direct way... when one is in exile, there’s often a very strong, archaic, and powerful relationship with the music of one’s origins. When I was writing the film, raï was both an ally and a compass, helping me find the right balance between the social and the melodramatic.
Love Unto Grave is one of the best known novels in Ethiopia and is considered a classic of Ethiopian literature. The novel gained popularity largely due to its narration on Ethiopian radio during the Derg regime. The story revolves around the doomed love affair between Bezabeh, a nobleman, and Seble, a young woman of a lower social class. The novel also takes aim at the injunctions of the Church, class prejudices and the hardships and inequities faced by the peasantry.
The first of four commissioned seasons, each consisting of 12 episodes, began airing on September 11, 2024, to coincide with the Ethiopian New Year celebrations.
In preparation of filming the director said:
"We are trying to understand the book before executing it; there are more than 70 studies done on Fikir Eske Mekabir, and we are trying to read and understand each perspective. We want to know how people perceive it, and in the end, we want to go out with our own voice. It needs dedication and confidence."
The 20th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) took place November 2nd, 2024. Among the biggest winners was the Nigerian drama The Weekend which took home the Best Film Award for both Nigeria and Africa. Nigerian filmmaker Femi Adebayo received the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for his performance in the historical drama Jagun Jagun, a film he also directed and among the most nominated films of the evening. Ghana’s Jackie Appiah received Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Red Carpet, and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka was honored as Best Director for The Queenstown Kings, a Netflix South African sports drama.
Half Heaven (2023), a Cameroon christian drama directed by Enah Johnscott, was winner of five awards at the 28th edition of the Écrans Noirs film festival. The awards included one in the Jury Prize for International Feature award, the Best Central African Feature Award, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, and the Jury Prize from the African Federation of Film Critics.
Nollywood filmmaker Dimeji Ajibola (b. 15 April 1980) died on November 3rd. He was known for directing Hoodrush (2012), Nigeria’s first urban musical film; Ovy’s Voice, the highest-ranked movie on Iroko TV in 2017, and more recently in 2023, Wura a Showmax original Nigerian soap opera and adaptation of the South Africa’s The River; Slum King, a lagos-based crime series; and Netflix’s crime thriller series Shantytown. His last film was the 2024 drama Saving Onome released on Amazon Prime Video about two parents (Olumide Oworu and Nancy Isime)) who go to desperate lengths to save their daughter.
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Congolese actress Rachael Mwanza spent several years living as a street child in Kinshasa before being cast in the film War Witch (2012) after the director and producers saw her in the 2012 documentary Kinshasa Kids. She went on to win several awards for her role as a child soldier, including from the Tribeca Film Festival, the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, and the Berlin Film Festival where she was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress.
Lula Ali Isamail, nicknamed the “First Lady of Djibouti Cinema” for directing the country’s first feature film (the 2018 award-winning Dhalinyaro) has been selected to direct the screen adaption of The Youth of God, a novel by Somali-Canadian author Hassan Ghedi Santur. The novel, which follows a 17-year-old Canadian-Somali confronting the challenges of religious radicalization, was longlisted for Canada Reads in 2020 and was a finalist for the 2019 Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award for Excellence in African Writing.
After each day of shooting the 2002 Chadian film Abouna on location in Gaoui and N'Djamena, the director Mahamat Saleh Haroun had to send the film 2,600 miles to Paris for processing. Only after waiting several days for word to came back that there were no problems, would shooting resume. Abouna went on to win several prizes, including Best Cinematography at the 2003 Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival, and was Chad's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards.
Charmaine Bingwa (b. 13 Nov 1984) is a Zimbabwean-Australian actress, writer and director. She is known for her breakthrough role as Carmen Moyo in The Good Fight TV series and in film roles that include Black Box (2020) a science fiction horror film directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. and co-staring Mamoudou Athie; Emancipation (2022) alongside Will Smith; and Netflix's Rwandan Genocide-set drama Trees of Peace (2022). She is also the writer, director and star of the Little Sistas series, winner of Best Screenplay at the LGBT Toronto Film Festival in 2018.
Karim Amer (b. 10 Nov 1983) is an Egyptian-American film producer and director. He worked on The Square (2013), a documentary about the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square and ensuing Egyptian Crisis, and The Great Hack (2019). The Square was the first Egyptian film to earn an Academy Award nomination and went on to win three Emmy Awards, while The Great Hack got nominated for an Emmy and a BAFTA Award. In 2020, he produced and directed The Vow, an HBO documentary series about the self-improvement group, NXIVM. In 2022, he produced and directed Flight/Risk for Amazon Studios, revolving around whistleblowers at Boeing.
Michael Wawuyo Sr (b. Nov 11, 1948) is a Ugandan actor and special effects artist. He is known for his big screen roles in Sometimes in April (2005); Last King of Scotland (2006); Kony: Order from Above, (2017); The Only Son (2016), The Mercy of the Jungle (2018), and The Taste of our Land (2022) which garnered him the Best Actor Award at the African Film Festival in Khouribga. His television roles include Yat Madit and Power of Legacy. He served as a special effects and make-up artist on films that include The Felista's Fable, for which he received his first nomination at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards in 2014; The Mercy of the Jungle; and Imbabazi: The Pardon (2013). In 2024, Wawuyo received an iKon lifetime achievement award.
Across the Sea (French: La mer au loin) is a 2024 drama film, directed by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi. The film premiered in the Critics' Week program at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it was a nominee for the Queer Palm. In next screens in competition at the Marrakech International Film Festival in December.
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Love Unto Grave (Amharic: ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር; Fikir Eske Mekabir) (2024) is an Ethiopian television drama series directed and co-written by Sewmehon Yismaw based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Haddis Alemayehu.
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