African Film Festival
March 8–May 9, 2026
Coming-of-age stories and portraits of dynamic cities in transition anchor this year’s African Film Festival, with stories from across Africa and its global diaspora, from the coasts of Kenya to the cityscapes of Lagos and Cayenne, French Guiana, Mali, and Chicago.
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Maxime Jean-Baptiste: Kouté vwa, 2024
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Zeinabu irene Davis: Compensation, 1999
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Fatou Cissé: Furu, 2024
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Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani: Bouchra, 2025
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Sammy Baloji: The Tree of Authenticity, 2025
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Upcoming Films
After the Long Rains
Damien Hauser
Switzerland, Kenya, 2023Sunday, March 8, 6:30 PMIntroduced by Ida Na-TeiView DetailsA young girl living along the scenic coast of Kenya breaks with tradition by learning to fish—all while dreaming of becoming an actress—in this tender coming-of-age drama, “an intimately realized portrait of village life” (Variety).
Compensation
Zeinabu irene Davis
United States, 1999Thursday, March 12, 7 PMZeinabu irene Davis, Marc Arthur Chéry, and Quinta Seward in ConversationView DetailsVia two Chicago love stories set almost one hundred years apart, Compensation considers the ephemeral nature of love and life, while illustrating the enduring challenges of race and racism over the course of a century.
The Tree of Authenticity
Sammy Baloji
Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2025Wednesday, April 1, 7 PMIntroduced by Victor OchiengView DetailsThe Tree of Authenticity recounts the stigma of ecological destruction that began at the time of colonization through the voices of two scientists who worked at Yangambi INERA Research Station in the Congo between 1910 and 1950: Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnaert.
Furu
Fatou Cissé
Mali, 2024Saturday, April 4, 4 PMIntroduced by Pechuqui LaurataView DetailsThis powerful social drama from director Fatou Cissé, daughter of legendary Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, explores the impact of forced marriage on young women in Mali. A poignant and urgent reflection on gender, autonomy, and resistance within a patriarchal society.
Faya dayi
Jessica Beshir
Ethiopia, United States, Qatar, 2021Wednesday, April 8, 7 PMJessica Beshir and shah noor hussein in ConversationView Details“A nonfiction work of sensory immersion that’s part anthropology, part poetry” (Hollywood Reporter), the stunning Faya dayi explores the khat trade that dominates rural Ethiopia, circling between youths with little hope and their elders, who are dependent on the dream state the leaf creates.
Kouté vwa
Maxime Jean-Baptiste
Belgium, France, French Guiana, 2024Saturday, April 11, 4:30 PMIntroduced by Menat AllahView DetailsA family’s long-carried grief forms the heart of this personal blend of fiction and documentary set, in French Guiana. The film also offers “a story about grief and forgiveness that also deals with the persisting consequences of colonialism: a violence that equally cannot pass.”
Freedom Way
Afolabi Olalekan
Nigeria, 2024Sunday, April 12, 7 PMIntroduced by Osarugue OtebeleView DetailsOne of 2024’s most acclaimed Nigerian films, Freedom Way tells an intense and powerful story of a disparate group of people facing economic pressure while seeking to improve their living conditions amidst a corrupt and oppressive city. Screens with Max Fouchee’s Cape Town Royalty Programme.
Bouchra
Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani
Italy, Morocco, United States, 2025Saturday, May 9, 4 PMView DetailsBlending documentary and 3D animation, the film depicts Bouchra, a thirty-five-year-old Moroccan jackal and filmmaker living in New York, as she writes an autobiographical film exploring how her queerness has impacted her mother, Aicha, a cardiologist jackal living in Casablanca.