In March 2014, the LAFF held its third annual event in the city of Luxor, Egypt. A festival for feature-length or short films made by Africans, it is organized by the non-profit Independent Shabab Foundation.
Source: LuxorAfricaFilmFestival.com
Every August and September since 2011 in the Kenyan cities of Kibera and Mathare, this festival features movies by film makers highlighting the stories of people living in urban slums worldwide. Artists who are citizens of slums have also had feature films in the official selection. Their website has links to some of the full-length films that have won awards.
Source: Slumfilmfestival.net
Described as one of the largest multidisciplinary film festivals in Africa, this annual event has been held for eight days every June since 1997 in Zanzibar. Nearly 100,000 nationals and internationals flock to take part in the music, lectures, workshops, and screenings in Zanzibar City’s Stone Town and in rural villages. The top film every year is awarded the Golden Dhow Award.
Source: Ziff.or.tz
Chaired by the Maghreb country’s Prince Moulay Rachid, this week-long festival celebrates North African culture every year around the late autumn or early wintertime. Films from countries such as Estonia, Denmark, and Lebanon (but never Morocco!) have won the Grand Prix, or Golden Star awards. Oscar-winning actors such as Melissa Leo and Daniel-Day Lewis have collected top acting prizes at this festival.
Source: FestivalMarrakech.info
In a continent where gay life is widely persecuted, this Cape Town and Johannesburg-based festival is an exception. Started in 1994 after apartheid ended, it foregrounded many independent films about South Africa and beyond, highlighting the LGBT communities for 20 days every year.
Source: Oia.co.za
Every two years since the Tunisian Minister of Culture created this festival in 1966, this festival is held biannually to switch off with the Carthage Theater Festival. It features works by artists from the Arab world and African countries. The Tanit Award, named for the fertility goddess of ancient Carthage, is handed to the winner of the feature film competition.
Source: Vimooz.com
November 2014 will mark the 14th time this East African country holds free public screenings of more than 100 international films. The festival is held for a week every year in Addis Ababa. Film awards are given to the best Ethiopian film in 10 different categories.
Source: Ethioiff.com
Held simultaneously at multiple cineplexes in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, this festival fuses wine tasting and film gorging in one long, 10-day binge. It’s a great promotion of South African and international film-making passion. The jury has awarded top prizes to auteurs like Senegalese genius Ousmane Sembene and Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney.
Source: Filmfestivallife.com
For 35 years, South Africa’s major city in KwaZulu-Natal province has hosted international and African films on nine different theater screens during 10 days in July. It’s a “celluloid jungle” of more than 200 films, according to the festival’s homepage. Top movies are awarded cash prizes, and Amnesty International hands out a Human Rights award.
Source: Durbanfilmfest.co.za
It’s the largest film festival in Africa, and many call this huge biannual event one of the largest cultural festivals on the continent. Held since its 1969 inception in Ouagadougou –the capital of Burkina Faso — the nearly two-week-long event aims to “contribute to the expansion and development of African cinema as means of expression, education and awareness-raising.” (Indiewire.com)
Sources: Indiewire.com, Fespaco.net
