Afrikamera 2026

The Afrikamera Festival is retur­ning to us for the fourth time from 10 November, this time fea­turing three careful­ly sel­ec­ted films.

Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun deligh­ted audi­en­ces years ago with films such as Abouna – Der Vater and the Afro-Western Daratt. Soum Soum – The Night of the Stars (in com­pe­ti­ti­on at the 2026 Berlinale, Chad’s Oscar© sub­mis­si­on) now fol­lows in the foot­s­teps of Kellou, a self-assu­red young woman who teams up with the elder­ly Aya, but must also unco­ver her own secret. This cap­ti­vat­ing tale of a spi­ri­tu­al world that pre­vai­led long befo­re the colo­ni­sa­ti­on, Islamisation and Christianisation of Chad also cap­ti­va­tes with its magni­fi­cent images of the desert landscape.

[Tickets]

SOUMSOUM, LA NUIT DES ASTRES

FR TD 2026, 101 mins, ori­gi­nal ver­si­on with eng­lish sub­tit­les, direc­ted by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Thu 12 Nov, 6.00 pm


Robert, aged 17 and having fled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Bengui, dreams of a care­er in music, but ever­y­thing seems to be against him. Then he hears about a com­pe­ti­ti­on – win­ning it beco­mes his only hope. With dis­ar­ming hones­ty and a nar­ra­ti­ve that only life its­elf can wri­te, Rafiki Fariala’s Cannes award-win­ning debut Congo Boy is a film that is as stir­ring as it is refres­hing, fea­turing songs he com­po­sed hims­elf, subt­le humour and a fan­ta­stic lead actor play­ing his alter ego.

[Tickets]

Congo Boy

CF/FR/CD/IT 2026, Director: Rafiki Fariala, 91 mins, Original ver­si­on with sub­tit­les, Sat 14 Nov, 6.00 pm

In L’arbre de l’au­then­ti­ci­té, redis­co­ver­ed old notes on cli­ma­tic deve­lo­p­ments in the Congo Basin pro­vi­de the impe­tus for this essay­i­stic reflec­tion. The con­nec­tion bet­ween colo­ni­sa­ti­on, oppres­si­on, ali­en­ati­on from natu­re and the des­truc­tion of natu­re is explo­red across three chap­ters. Following two men, pho­to­grapher and video artist Sammy Baloji gives a voice to the trees in the final sec­tion through poe­tic text set against immersi­ve soundscapes.

[Tickets]

L’ARBRE DE L’AUTHENTICITÉ

ZR 2025, 84 mins, Original ver­si­on with German sub­tit­les, Director and Screenplay: Sammy Baloji, Tue 10 Nov, 8.00 pm