Category: The Latest

Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in audio format—an AI-generated version of my voice. (10 minutes) In 2019, when Karine Barclais launched Pavillon Afriques at the Marché du Film—the official industry market of the Cannes Film Festival—she was not an insider in the film world, nor did she have a background in African cinema. What she […]

Cannes 2025 is now underway, with African and diaspora titles gaining visibility across Competition, Un Certain Regard, La Cinef, and the Shorts program. But beyond the red carpet: – Who’s funding these films, and who owns them after – What platforms like Pavillon Afriques, AfroCannes, and African House are building – Whether African delegations are […]

Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in AI-generated audio format (12 minutes) It’s been more than a decade since Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako last released a film. His 2014 feature “Timbuktu” was widely celebrated for its quiet power and political precision, earning an Oscar nomination and solidifying his place as one of Africa’s most respected […]

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.” […]

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 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” 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]