Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) will partner to present the 32nd edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF). NYAFF features more than 30 contemporary and classic films from Africa and its diaspora screening at FLC May 7 through May 13, with 100 films in total as the festival continues at other esteemed New York City cultural venues throughout the month of May, with many filmmakers in attendance for post-screening QandAs. Since its inception in 1993, the festival has been at the forefront of showcasing African and diaspora filmmakers' unique storytelling through the moving image.

This year's theme, "Fluid Horizons: A Shifting Lens on a Hopeful World," honors the resilience of African youth and the forebearers who paved the way for them. As cinema was an integral part of the African continent's struggle for independence and the triumph of its liberation, this edition of the festival celebrates the African youth who have turned to their cameras to document their experiences and the influence of those who came before them. With a multitude of genres ranging from comedies to experimental films, the 32nd New York African Film Festival offers a multidimensional take on African culture, history, and cinema.

Schedule of Events:

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

6:30 pm: Freedom Way

Faced with unfavorable laws and incessant police harassment, three young co-founders struggle to keep their start-up alive. A motorcyclist faces dark times with his family after losing his livelihood. A doctor struggles with his conscience on the job while battling outdated government policies. A police pair find themselves on different sides of the law with a difficult choice to make. The lives of nine individuals are set on a collision course in Afolabi Olalekan's feature debut, a fast-paced, electric thriller shot on location in Lagos.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

4:00 pm: Freedom Way

Faced with unfavorable laws and incessant police harassment, three young co-founders struggle to keep their start-up alive. A motorcyclist faces dark times with his family after losing his livelihood. A doctor struggles with his conscience on the job while battling outdated government policies. A police pair find themselves on different sides of the law with a difficult choice to make. The lives of nine individuals are set on a collision course in Afolabi Olalekan's feature debut, a fast-paced, electric thriller shot on location in Lagos.

6:30 pm: Black Tea

After saying no on her wedding day, Aya leaves the Ivory Coast for a new life in the buzzing "Chocolate City" of Guangzhou, China. In this district where the African diaspora meets Chinese culture, she gets hired in a tea boutique owned by Cai, a Chinese man. In the secrecy of the back shop, Cai decides to initiate Aya to the tea ceremony. Through the teaching of this ancient art, their relationship slowly turns into tender love. But for their burgeoning passion to lead to mutual trust, they must let go of their burdens and face their past.

9:15 pm: Shorts Program 1: Notions of Home

This program of diaspora short films from around the globe includes Ahmed Samir's Grandma, Hans Augustave's Nwa (Black), Adesola Thomas's Sister Salad Days, Devin Powell's Where Are You From?, Shawn Antoine II's Green Bay, Rhys Aaron Lewis's Run Like We, and Francis Y. Brown's Blinded by the Lights.

Friday, May 9, 2025

3:00 pm: Shorts Program 1: Notions of Home

This program of diaspora short films from around the globe includes Ahmed Samir's Grandma, Hans Augustave's Nwa (Black), Adesola Thomas's Sister Salad Days, Devin Powell's Where Are You From?, Shawn Antoine II's Green Bay, Rhys Aaron Lewis's Run Like We, and Francis Y. Brown's Blinded by the Lights.

6:00 pm: Furu

This powerful social drama from director Fatou Cisse, daughter of legendary Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse, explores the impact of forced marriage on young women in Mali. The film follows Tou, who is pressured to marry an older man after becoming pregnant, and Ami, who resists village pressure to wed in favor of her independence. Through these parallel stories, Furu examines the complex and often painful choices young women face when their futures are shaped by tradition rather than personal agency. The film confronts the enduring practice of forced marriage and its psychological consequences, offering a poignant and urgent reflection on gender, autonomy, and resistance within a patriarchal society. Preceded by a clip from Cisse's 2022 documentary A Daughter's Tribute to Her Father, an intimate portrayal of the life and career of Souleymane Cisse.

8:30 pm: Rising Up at Night

As the Congo constructs Africa's largest power station, Kinshasa and its inhabitants are trapped in literal darkness, waiting and struggling to get access to electric light while also dealing with extensive flooding and preparing to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Nelson Makengo's first feature documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival Panorama, is a vivid portrait of Kinshasa's residents-their hopes, disappointments, religious faith, and resilience. Makengo's subtle, fragmented storytelling captures a population reinventing itself while immersed in the beauty of Kinshasa's nights.

Friday, May 10, 2025

11:30 am: From Then to Now: Celebrating 15 Years of African Cinema - Presented by AFF and OkayAfrica

The African Film Festival (AFF) and OkayAfrica present From Then to Now: Celebrating 15 Years of African Cinema-a thoughtful exploration of the evolving landscape of African film. Bringing together four acclaimed filmmakers featured in this year's festival, this panel offers a rare opportunity to reflect on the creative shifts and enduring themes shaping African cinema today. Panelists include Abderrahmane Sissako (Black Tea), Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda (Juju Factory), Afolabi Olalekan (Opening Night film Freedom Way), and Fatou Cisse (Furu), who also honors the profound legacy of her father, the late Souleymane Cisse. Together, they trace the threads of continuity and change across a decade and a half of cinematic storytelling, offering insight into the present moment and the future of the art form.

1:30 pm: Mweze

David-Pierre Fila's documentary on Mweze Ngangura-the visionary Congolese director of Kin Kiesse; Life Is Beautiful; Changa Changa; The King, the Cow and the Banana Tree; Pieces d'identites; and The Governor's New Clothes-unfolds as a meditation on history, politics, cinema, image, and time. Shot in Kinshasa, Ouagadougou, and Brussels, it is not a biography but an introspective exploration of Mweze's life today in Belgium, where he has settled with his family. What emerges is a self-portrait conceived by Mweze himself, a collage of images layered with sound impressions. From the very first frames, the film presents itself with an understated elegance and subtle charms, its subject less concerned with intellectual discourse and more with stirring the heart.

3:45 pm: Identity Pieces

In Mweze Ngangura's modern comic fairy tale, Mani Kongo, King of the Bakongo, embarks on a trip to Belgium to find his beloved daughter, Mwana, whom he has lost touch with. Dignified and outfitted in full regalia, the African king walks into a society that neither respects his title nor values his humanity. On arriving in Belgium, he has to cope with the very best and the very worst of the Black diaspora, as well as with prejudices rampant in European society, and finds good friends amongst the poor, lower-class whites-showing that nothing is ever black or white.

6:30 pm: Memories of Love Returned

On April 24, 2002, filmmaker Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine's car broke down in the small town of Mbirizi, Uganda. While waiting for it to be repaired he stumbled upon a small photo studio and met photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo, whose work spanned from the late 1950s to his death in 2006. This chance encounter turned into a 22-year journey documenting and exploring Kibaate's life and photography and the profound impact it had on Ntare's life and the lives of the entire community he documented. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, this intimate, nuanced documentary about the transformative power of photography was named best documentary at the Africa International Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Pan African Film Festival.

8:45 pm: Shorts Program 2: Mzansi Moments

This collection of short films from South Africa includes Ntokozo Mlaba's The Passage, Michelle Name and Onke Meje's Intsikelelo Yamanzi, Nduduzo Shandu's Gogo, Phumi Morare's Why the Cattle Wait, Hachimiya Ahamada's Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper, Kgomotso Sekhu's Shap Shap, and Zoe Ramushu's Damsel, Not in Distress.

Sunday, May 11, 2025

1:00 pm: The Fisherman

Atta Oko has spent his life as a proud traditional fisherman in rural Ghana. When he is suddenly forced into retirement his life takes a whimsical turn as he is partnered with a modern, bougie talking fish. As fishy chaos ensues, Atta and his three quirky "associates" navigate the vibrant streets of Accra, chasing their shared dream of owning a fishing boat. Filled with laughter, magic, and the rich culture of Ghana, The Fisherman is a heartwarming tale of family, resilience, and the enduring spirit of a true fisherman.

3:30 pm: Shorts Program 3: Centennial Legacies

Marking a century of history, culture, and resistance, this short film program honoring the visionaries and movements that shaped the past and continue to inspire the future includes Lou de Lemos's The Legend of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra's It Was Four Years Ago, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra's Ousmane Sembène: The Making of Ceddo, Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda's The Draughtsmen Clash, and Lebert Bethune's Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom.

6:30 pm: Ndar, Saga Waalo

Ndar, the original name of Saint-Louis, an island at the mouth of the Senegal River in the former Waalo kingdom, was the port of colonial penetration into West Africa four centuries ago. An economic, cultural, and political crossroads, it served as a laboratory for the "civilizing mission." Commerce, town planning, education, and mixed heritage were the instruments for French colonists to assimilate populations, establish themselves in the country, and exploit the wealth. While some cannot deny history and have kept their Saint-Louisian way of living intact, others want to put an end to the colonial heritage. For many young people today, it is time to think about history differently. Yet everyone has managed to preserve their keen sense of living well together.

Saint-Louisians and historians tell us the rich and complex saga of the Waalo kingdom in Ousmane William Mbaye's powerful documentary.

8:45 pm: Juju Factory

Kongo lives in the Matonge district of Brussels, where he is writing a book. His editor wants a kind of traveler's book spiced with ethnic ingredients. However, Kongo is inspired by his vision of complex and tormented souls that he meets at all proverbial and literal crossings. His story, and Juju Factory's narrative, follow invisible trajectories intertwined with Congolese history and Belgium's ghosts.

Monday, May 12, 2025

3:00 pm: Shorts Program 3: Centennial Legacies

Marking a century of history, culture, and resistance, this short film program honoring the visionaries and movements that shaped the past and continue to inspire the future includes Lou de Lemos's The Legend of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra's It Was Four Years Ago, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra's Ousmane Sembène: The Making of Ceddo, Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda's The Draughtsmen Clash, and Lebert Bethune's Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom.

6:00 pm: The Tree of Authenticity

Nestled in Africa's largest rainforest lies one of the many gravesites of the West's efforts to control nations and nature-one of the world's largest tropical agricultural research centers. Located on the banks of the Congo River, the Yangambi INERA Research Station was a booming scientific center in its heyday, but today, it is an amalgam of jungle and ruin. Sammy Baloji's gripping documentary The Tree of Authenticity recounts the stigma of ecological destruction that began at the time of colonization through the voices of two emblematic scientists who worked at Yangambi between 1910 and 1950, Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnaert. Their stories embody the legacies of colonial modernity and trace the origins of today's environmental injustice.

8:30 pm: Everybody Loves Touda

Irrepressible Touda dreams of only one thing-being a Sheikha, a respected traditional Moroccan performer. Empowered by the songs of resistance and emancipation of the fierce female poets who came before her, she takes the stage every evening in provincial bars. Tired of performing under the lustful gaze of men, Touda sets her sights on leaving her small village for the bright lights of Casablanca, where she hopes to be recognized as a true artist-and secure a better future for her and her son. The latest from award-winning director Nabil Ayouch (Casablanca Beats, Horses of God) premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and was Morocco's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

3:15 pm: Black Tea

After saying no on her wedding day, Aya leaves the Ivory Coast for a new life in the buzzing "Chocolate City" of Guangzhou, China. In this district where the African diaspora meets Chinese culture, she gets hired in a tea boutique owned by Cai, a Chinese man. In the secrecy of the back shop, Cai decides to initiate Aya to the tea ceremony. Through the teaching of this ancient art, their relationship slowly turns into tender love. But for their burgeoning passion to lead to mutual trust, they must let go of their burdens and face their past.

6:00 pm: The Man Died

Based on the harrowing prison memoir by Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, The Man Died is a powerful tale of resistance, courage, and the unyielding human spirit. Set against the backdrop of Nigeria's civil war, the film chronicles Soyinka's imprisonment without trial by a brutal military regime determined to silence his voice. Through solitary confinement, torture, and deprivation, Soyinka's resolve to fight against tyranny and injustice only grows stronger. Interwoven with flashbacks to his earlier life as a writer and activist, the film reveals the profound inner strength and unbreakable spirit that drive Soyinka's resistance. As he documents his experiences on scraps of paper smuggled out of his cell, his writings become a beacon of hope and a call to action for others living under oppression. The Man Died is not just a personal story but a universal testament to the enduring power of truth and the necessity of standing up against tyranny. It is a poignant reminder that in the face of oppression, silence is not an option, and the human spirit can never truly be extinguished.

8:30 pm: Shorts Program 4: In the Arms of the Mother

This program of short films by and/or about African women includes Mariame N'diaye's Sira, Anil Padia and Michael Mwangi Maina's Temple Road, Dika Ofoma's God's Wife, Kagure N. Kabue's Iron Fist, Zoe Cauwet's Le Grand Calao, and Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda's We Will Be Who We Are.

Date:
May 7 - 13, 2025

Location:
Walter Reade Theater, 165 W 65th Street, New York, NY 10023
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center - (FBT- Francesca Beale Theater),144 W 65th Street, New York, NY 10023

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