33rd New York African Film Festival Unveils Massive 2026 Lineup Across NYC

New York City will once again become a global hub for African cinema this May as Film at Lincoln Center and African Film Festival, Inc. join forces to present the 33rd annual New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), one of the most important showcases of African and diasporic storytelling in the world. Running throughout the month of May, the festival will present more than 100 films from over 30 countries at major cultural institutions across the city, including Film at Lincoln Center, The Africa Center, Maysles Documentary Center, BAM and St. Nicholas Park.  

Founded in 1990 by AFF founder and executive director Mahen Bonetti, NYAFF was New York City’s first festival devoted to African cinema and has spent more than three decades introducing audiences to groundbreaking filmmakers, preserving film history, and creating a home for stories too often excluded from mainstream screens. This year’s theme, As the Stars Sow the Earth, explores memory, land, resilience, spirituality and the future of Africa and its global diaspora.  

Opening Night

The festival’s official Opening Night takes place Wednesday, May 6 at Film at Lincoln Center with the New York premiere of Promised Sky, directed by acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Erige Sehiri. The bittersweet drama follows Marie, an Ivorian pastor living in Tunisia whose home becomes a refuge for displaced young women and a child survivor, forming an unexpected family amid social tension and uncertainty. The film previously opened the 2025 Cannes Un Certain Regard section.  

The cast includes César Award nominee Aïssa Maïga and artist-actress Laetitia Ky, both expected in attendance for Opening Night. Also expected at the celebration are filmmakers and creatives from across the festival including Herrana Addisu, Shawn Antoine II, Sonia Bekam, Ahmad Cissé, Taylor Dews, Michael Fadugbagbe, Catherine E. McKinley, Chiemeka Offor, Tyler Woodruff, Lande Yoosuf, actress-filmmaker Zainab Jah, filmmaker Xoliswa Sithole, scholar Sean Jacobs, South Sudan Ambassador Cecilia Adeng and Mahen Bonetti.  

NYAFF begins May 1 at The Africa Center with a Town Hall focused on “Black Space,” examining how Black communities shape liberatory futures through art, memory and collective imagination. It then moves to Film at Lincoln Center from May 6–12, heads to Harlem’s Maysles Documentary Center from May 15–17, continues to BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn from May 22–28 as FilmAfrica during the famed DanceAfrica celebration, and concludes with a free outdoor screening at St. Nicholas Park on May 30.  

The BAM partnership is especially exciting. DanceAfrica is BAM’s longest-running program and the nation’s largest celebration of African diasporic dance, music and culture, making FilmAfrica a natural cinematic companion that extends the energy of the beloved annual event.  

Film at Lincoln Center Lineup Highlights (May 6–12)

FEATURES

Promised Sky — Directed by Erige Sehiri. A moving drama about women forging family and survival in Tunisia. Cast: Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky.

The Eyes of Ghana — Directed by Ben Proudfoot. Executive produced by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, this documentary follows 93-year-old photographer Chris Hesse racing to save a hidden archive of Ghanaian history.

Afrotōpia — Directed by David Mboussou. A young filmmaker uncovers family secrets tied to a sacred forest and colonial exploitation.

Barni — Directed by Mohammed Sheikh. A missing child sends a Somali village on a courageous journey.

Caméra arabe — Directed by pioneering Tunisian filmmaker Férid Boughedir. A restored documentary on politically engaged Arab cinema.

Caméra d’Afrique — Also by Férid Boughedir, chronicling the rise of sub-Saharan African cinema after colonialism.

En résidence surveillée — Directed by trailblazing filmmaker Paulin Soumanou Vieyra. A sharp political satire about corruption and exile.

The Heart Is a Muscle — Directed by Imran Hamdulay. A South African redemption drama steeped in hip-hop culture.

Lace Relations — Directed by Anette Baldauf, Chioma Onyenwe, Joana Adesuwa Reiterer and Katharina Weingartner. A documentary exposing colonial-era textile trade ties between Austria and Nigeria.

My Father and Qaddafi — Directed by Jihan. A daughter investigates the disappearance of her dissident father under Libya’s dictatorship.

Rumba Royale — Directed by Hamed Mobasser and Yohane Dean Lengol. A historical thriller set inside a legendary nightclub in 1959 Congo. Features music superstar Fally Ipupa in his screen debut.

So Long a Letter — Directed by Angèle Diabang. Adapted from the landmark feminist novel by Mariama Bâ.

The Soul of Africa — Directed by Gabriel Souleyka. A spiritual journey through ancestral African belief systems.

When Nigeria Happens — Directed by Ema Edosio Deelen. A contemporary dance drama about artists, sacrifice and survival in Nigeria.  

FLC SHORTS PROGRAMS

Crossings includes Departing, Happy Meal, The River, Heartbreaks & Ocean Waves, Faux Lion, Knotless, Leaving Ikorodu in 1999, and Nwanne M Nwaanyi.

Go Back and Get It includes Ekun Omi, Caleb, Goat, Of Kimani, Clichés, and Idris Elba’s directorial short Dust to Dreams.

The Art of Protection includes Bailey’s Blues, Ibuka, Justice, Keïta La, Where the Water Meets Us, Exodus, The Land Smiles Back, Eauquation, and 99 Names: My Liberation Is Tied to Yours.  

Harlem at Maysles Documentary Center (May 15–17)

The Harlem leg centers nonfiction storytelling and urgent social themes with titles including:

La Traversée (The Crossing) — Irene Tassembedo’s migration drama.

Wolobougou — Camille Varenne’s portrait of a feminist midwife in Burkina Faso.

Reclaiming Cocoa — Philippe Stalder on Ghana’s fight to reclaim value from the global cocoa trade.

Amílcar — Miguel Eek’s portrait of revolutionary leader Amílcar Cabral.

Miss Jobson — Amanda Sans Pantling profiles legendary Jamaican attorney Diane Jobson, once close to Bob Marley.

Batwing Unmasked: An African Super Hero — Thomas Letellier explores DC Comics’ African hero.

Record and Until Further Notice — Stories of trans identity, resilience and migration.

Book of Ahmad, French Touch, Diaspora Power, Minimals in a Titanic World, I Jantô! and more round out the program.  

BAM’s FILMAFRICA DURING DANCEAFRICA (MAY 22–28)

Brooklyn’s BAM edition spotlights Uganda while also embracing pan-African cinema.

A Tribe Called Love — Mohamed Ahmed’s Somali Romeo-and-Juliet romance set in Toronto.

Black Girl — Directed by Ossie Davis and starring Leslie Uggams.

Cotton Queen — Suzannah Mirghani’s Sudan-set drama about land, power and resistance.

Freedom Way — Afolabi Olalekan’s Lagos-set story of entrepreneurship and police brutality.

My Father’s Shadow — Akinola Davies Jr.’s acclaimed father-son drama and the U.K.’s Oscar submission.

Germaine Acogny – The Essence of Dance — A documentary honoring the legendary Senegalese dance icon.

How To Build a Library — Two women reimagine a whites-only colonial library in Nairobi.

I Am Black, I Am Beautiful — Afro-French women discuss beauty, hair and identity.

Lady — Olive Nwosu’s Lagos-set coming-of-age story.

María Antonia — Restored Afro-Cuban classic from Sergio Giral.

Memories of Love Returned — Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s documentary about preserving Ugandan photo history.

Mississippi Masala — Mira Nair’s beloved classic starring Sarita Choudhury and Denzel Washington.

Ndar Saga Waalo — A historical reflection on Saint-Louis, Senegal.

The Girl in the Yellow Jumper — Loukman Ali’s Ugandan thriller.

The Man Died — Awam Amkpa adapts Wole Soyinka’s prison memoir.

The Woman Who Poked the Leopard — A documentary on activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi.  

Outdoor Finale in Harlem

The festival closes May 30 at St. Nicholas Park with Exuberant Jubilance, a free outdoor shorts showcase celebrating humor, resilience and joy through films including Rachid, Run Like We, Le Grand Calao, Soko Sonko, and My Jebba Story.