Author: Tambay A. Obenson

The Patience of Abderrahmane Sissako: On Crafting Black Tea and What Comes Next 

Scoop: In my interview this week with Abderrahmane Sissako, he revealed that his next film will be a black-and-white adaptation of David Diop’s celebrated 2018 novel “At Night All Blood Is Black.” OmarSy acquired the rights and asked him to direct. “Nobody expects that from me,” he said. “That’s why I have to do it.” […]

NollywoodWeek at 12, and the Shifting Shape of African Cinema in Paris

Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in AI-generated audio format (9 minutes) When Serge Noukoué and Nadira Shakur launched NollywoodWeek in 2013, they weren’t chasing trends. They were filling a void. Shakur, originally from Washington, D.C., is an African American who has lived in France and across Africa. Noukoué was born and raised in […]

News Brief: Senegal’s State Film Fund Publishes Long-Awaited 2023 Results

Senegal’s national film fund FOPICA has released results from its 2023 funding cycle: – 49 projects selected. 1.2 billion FCFA (~ $2.1 million) awarded. It’s the most detailed accounting in years, covering feature films, shorts, docs, series, festivals, and training programs. But the bigger story is about reliability. Akoroko looks at what this round might […]

Nigeria’s New $500M Creative Economy Fund—Who It’s Actually For (Clarity)

Nigeria’s new Creative Economy Development Fund (CEDF) is now open—but it’s not what most creative workers likely think. For most filmmakers, musicians, designers, and writers working independently, this won’t finance your next project, if that’s what you’re hoping for. This is formal, investment-style funding. It’s designed for a small, structurally and fiscally organized segment of […]

“Sinners,” “Saloum,” Horror, Visibility, and the Stories That Travel

“Sinners” landed across African theaters with a coordinated push. “Saloum” had festival acclaim, genre storytelling, and commercial appeal, but traveled a harder road. Both films root horror in real histories, real geographies, and real memories. This isn’t about competition, but connecting them across a shared struggle. Not a fight between films; a cross-continental conversation about […]

One Year of Akoroko Premium: What We’ve Built

The official first anniversary of Akoroko Premium is TODAY—April 28, 2025. This wouldn’t exist without those who continue to subscribe, kept reading, suggesting, questioning, sticking around, and even those who canceled, particularly those who canceled and came back! Akoroko itself launched in April 2022. Two years later, in April 2024, the subscription, Akoroko Premium, went live. One […]

Funding African Stories at Cannes: An Akoroko / ASI Report

Produced through African Screen Intelligence (ASI), this new report tracks the financing behind every African narrative selected for Cannes 2025—across Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight, and ACID. It includes: – Disclosed budgets where available – Estimated ranges where needed – Source tracking across grants, co-productions, broadcasters, and post-production funds – More… This is part […]

New Oscars Rule Changes: What Actually Matters for African Films—If Anything

The Academy’s new eligibility rules are official, including stricter theatrical requirements for Best Picture, as well as tweaks to sound, shorts, and animation categories. But for African films and filmmakers, nothing really fundamental shifts. More of a reassertion of what has always defined Oscar inclusion: power, positioning, and platforms. A new Akoroko Premium “News Brief” […]

Holding It In: Rungano Nyoni and Susan Chardy on Silence, Tradition, and ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL

A24 launched the U.S. theatrical release of Rungano Nyoni’s sophomore feature “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” on March 7, 2025. The film is now available as a streaming rental on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube. I had hoped for a much longer, one-on-one conversation with Rungano Nyoni when I pitched this […]