Author: Tambay A. Obenson

The official trailer for “Hanami,” the debut feature by Swiss-Cape Verdean filmmaker Denise Fernandes, is here, along with distribution news. It’s one of approximately 60 titles captured in the Akoroko newsletter, “Tracking 2022-2024 African Films With *Major* Festival Exposure Without Distribution,” last updated on January 6, 2025. Subscribe at the link to receive the entire list—which […]

Deadline reports (today, January 24, 2025) that Netflix has appointed Kaye-Ann Williams as its new Director of Scripted Content for Africa. This newly created role will oversee local productions and African original films and series. Williams joins after a stint as Head of Scripted Series and Movies at Netflix’s competitor, Amazon Prime Video/Amazon Studios, where […]

Paramount’s “Children of Blood and Bone” brings together key African and Hollywood film elements: In a new Akoroko Premium newsletter, I consider Paramount’s big-screen adaptation of “Children of Blood and Bone” as a potential case study for how the Hollywood behemoth might engage with African stories, talent, and production during a period of seemingly heightened […]

Public allegiance to Netflix’s Top 10 rankings can at times be confounding—particularly in the African context. Too often, we point to “#1 in [Country X]” as if it’s a definitive sign of quality or genuine audience enthusiasm. These charts get quoted as if they were ironclad proof that a title truly resonated with audiences. Yet the […]

Celebrated Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck will be honored at the 56th Visions du Réel festival in Switzerland this April, featuring a retrospective of his four-decade career and the Swiss premiere of his latest work, the South African-focused documentary “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” From his early explorations of Haiti’s political traumas to his investigations of […]

As Sundance 2025 prepares to open on January 23, I thought I’d take a look at the recent history of African narratives (features primarily) programmed at the festival, specifically during this century. The presence of African stories at Sundance has evolved, paralleling broader developments in African screen industries. As industry professionals gain increasing visibility on […]

This year marks the centennial of the birth of Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987), a filmmaker, critic, and historian who played a pioneering role in the emergence and global recognition of African cinema. On the occasion of this 100th anniversary, a series of commemorative events, including film screenings, exhibitions, and academic conferences, are scheduled to take […]

As part of my commitment to providing comprehensive yet discerning coverage of Africa’s diverse and complex screen landscapes, I periodically analyze my own reporting to uncover country focus gaps as well as potential industry trends that might not be immediately apparent. Having conducted a first such analysis just after Q1 2024, this second examination includes […]

The Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) has announced the official selection for its 29th edition, scheduled for February 22 through March 1, 2025, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The lineup includes 17 features competing for the Étalon de Yennenga (the festival’s top prize), 15 feature documentaries, 34 shorts, and broad sections for animation, […]

A prominent French-Burkinabè film journalist, critic, distributor, speaker, and staunch advocate for African filmmaking worldwide, Claire Diao’s extensive background in promoting African films and filmmakers both within the continent and internationally, is renowned. As founder of the traveling screening series “Quartiers Lointains,” creating the Pan-African film criticism magazine Awotele, and launching sales and distribution company […]