African Film Festival, Inc.

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African Film Festival, Inc.

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AFF is dedicated to advancing an enhanced understanding of African culture through the moving image. Founded in 1990, African Film Festival, Inc.

(AFF) is dedicated to advancing an enhanced understanding of African culture through the moving image. It offers diverse platforms for the wide distribution of African media through its flagship annual film festival and complementary year-round programming.

10/16/2026

AFF returns to The Africa Center this October with Samia, by Deka Mohamed Osman & Yasemin Şamdereli🎬

🎞️ Based on true events, Samia tells the inspiring story of Somali athlete Samia Yusuf Omar, a talented young runner growing up in Mogadishu who dreams of competing on the Olympic stage. Despite difficult circumstances and societal restrictions, Samia remains unwavering in her determination to pursue her passion, freedom, and dreams.

📅 Wednesday, October 28 at 7 PM 📍 The Africa Center 1280 Fifth Avenue, New York
🎟️ Free with registration. Link in bio!

09/21/2026

That’s a wrap on another summer with AFF! ☀️🎬

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 19th Annual Family Day Celebration and throughout our summer series. From films under the stars to music, dance, storytelling, and gathering in community, we’re so grateful to everyone who spent their summer with us! 🤎

As the season changes, the films continue! Join us this fall at The Africa Center, beginning September 30 with Ngozi Onwurah’s ‘Shoot the Messenger’!

See you at there! 🍿✨

📸 Kezia SAKHO

09/17/2026

This September, AFF returns to The Africa Center with Ngozi Onwurah’s provocative ‘Shoot the Messenger’.

🎞️ In Onwurah’s provocative tale, David Oyelowo plays Joe, a schoolteacher in South London who is falsely accused of hitting one of his pupils. As the local Black population turns on him, branding him as a racist, a destitute Joe is forced to confront his fear and hatred of his own community. The film was the winner of the Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award and two BAFTA TV Awards!

📅 Wednesday, September 30 at 7 PM 📍 The Africa Center 1280 Fifth Avenue, New York
🎟️ Free with registration. Link in bio.

09/14/2026

AFF returns to Brooklyn for our final ‘Cinema Under the Stars’ of the season 🌙

Join us THIS THURSDAY at Breeze Hill in Prospect Park for an evening of music, community, and cinema. DJ PORSHA✌🏾 opens the night at 6:30 PM, with films beginning at 7:30 PM! 🎶

🎞️ We’re screening Zoey Martinson’s The Fisherman, a selection that follows a retired Ghanaian fisherman whose encounter with a talking fish sends him on an unexpected journey to Accra. Playful, tender, and full of magic, the film moves between tradition and a changing world, with family, friendship, and the pursuit of a dream at its heart.

The evening begins with Oluwadara Ojugbele’s (bush girl media™) ‘The Memory: Sacred Groves, Sacred Nature’, a collaborative video project reflecting on our relationships with the natural world through ideas of sacredness, reciprocity, and care.

Bring a blanket, bring a friend, and join us for one last film under the Brooklyn sky. ✨
📍 Breeze Hill, Prospect Park 🎧 DJ Set — 6:30 PM 🎬 Films — 7:30 PM 🎟 FREE - register at the link in bio!

In case of rain, the screening will move indoors to the Brooklyn Public Library of Arts & Culture, 10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor. Register to receive weather updates!

09/02/2026

🎉 Family Day is back! 🎉

Join AFF and the Trust for Governors Island on Saturday, September 12 for our 19th Annual Family Day Celebration! 💃🏾✨

Bring the whole family for a FREE day of fun, culture, and community, featuring African dance and drumming, storytelling, double-dutch, arts & crafts, short films, interactive workshops, and more celebrating Africa and the diaspora!

📅 Saturday, September 12 🌧️ Rain Date: Sunday, September 13 📍 Nolan Park, Governors Island 🎟️ FREE & open to all ages. Link in bio to RSVP

Come dance, create, learn, and celebrate with us! ☺️

08/27/2026

We’re excited to partner with our friends at Film at Lincoln Center and Film Movement for the new 4K restoration of Idrissa Ouédraogo’s ‘Samba Traoré’, screening August 28–September 3! 🤩

🎞️ Winner of the Silver Bear at the 1993 Berlinale, Samba Traoré follows a man who returns to his village after a botched robbery with a suitcase of stolen cash. As he builds a prosperous new life, guilt, suspicion, and the truth behind his sudden fortune begin to catch up with him.

📍 Film at Lincoln Center 📅 August 28–September 3

07/28/2026

An evening of jazz, cinema, and the enduring legacy of James Baldwin! 🎷✨

Join us this Saturday, August 1 at 6:30 PM in St. Nicholas Park for a free outdoor celebration of one of the 20th century’s most influential writers, thinkers, and civil rights voices.

🎶 The evening begins with a live jazz performance by David Lee Jones & the Harlem Groove Band.

🎞️ And then, experience ‘James Baldwin: From Another Place’ by Sedat Pakay, an intimate short filmed in Istanbul that captures Baldwin in quiet moments of reflection, offering a rare glimpse into his life, creative process, and the city he once called home.

🎞️ The program continues with ‘James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket’, Karen Thorsen’s acclaimed documentary chronicling Baldwin’s extraordinary life and work through rare archival footage, interviews with friends and collaborators, and Baldwin’s own words. More than a biography, the film explores his fearless writing on race, identity, sexuality, and justice—ideas that remain as urgent and inspiring today as ever.

📍 St. Nicholas Park 135th St. & St. Nicholas Ave., Harlem, NY 10030
🎟️ Free & open to all. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and join us for an unforgettable evening!
🔗 RSVP via link in bio!

Co-presented by Maysles Documentary Center , NYC Parks & HarlemOneStop

07/20/2026

Looking for free outdoor film screenings, family activities, dance classes, live music, and more? ☀️🎬

AFF’s annual Summer Series is officially here! Join us all season long as we bring African and Diasporic cinema, community, and culture to parks and public spaces across New York City. Add these dates to your summer bucket list:

📍 July 16 — Snug Harbor 📍 August 1 — St. Nicholas Park 📍 September 12 — Family Day at Governors Island 📍 September 17 — Prospect Park

We can’t wait to see you there!
🔗 Link in bio to RSVP for August dates!

07/13/2026

🎷 Join us for our first outdoor screening of the summer!

This Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 PM, AFF heads to Snug Harbor for a special screening of Johan Grimonprez’s acclaimed documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, preceded by a live jazz performance by Craig Harris.

🎞️Set against the backdrop of the United Nations in 1960, the film unravels the extraordinary intersection of African liberation movements, Cold War politics, and American jazz, revealing the forces behind the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. Blending archival footage, government records, speeches, and an unforgettable soundtrack, Soundtrack to a Coup d’État offers a powerful reexamination of a pivotal moment in global history.

🎺 Live jazz performance by Craig Harris 🎬 Screening begins at 7:30 PM 📍 Snug Harbor – South Meadow 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY

Bring a blanket or lawn chair and join us for an unforgettable evening of film, music, and community under the open sky!

In the event of rain, the screening will move indoors to Community Hall, Building P Lobby.

06/30/2026

As Pride Month comes to an end, we’re sharing a list of q***r African and Diaspora films that AFF has proudly programmed over the years. We hope you’ll add them to your watchlists and continue celebrating these stories beyond this month! 🌈

LGBTQIA+ stories have always been our stories.

Address

154 W 18th Street, Ste 2A
New York, NY

Website

http://www.africanfilmny.org/

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