The 78th Locarno Film Festival runs from August 6 to 16, 2025, in Locarno, Switzerland. As part of this year’s edition, the festival launches the first installment of its four-year Africa-focused Open Doors cycle (2025–2028), a program structured around co-production support, producer development, curated screenings, and artist residencies for filmmakers from 42 African countries. The […]
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TIFF at 50: Tracking African and Diaspora Films Selected for 2025 Edition
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival is shaping up fast. Akoroko is tracking all African and diaspora titles selected so far, and what they tell us. Audio version available. Full dispatch and more recent market intelligence via Akoroko Premium 7-day free trial → https://akoroko.com/localpricing/ Localized pricing now live in several African and Caribbean countries.
The Nigeria–Brazil Cinema Link Ola Balogun Built
On June 24, 2025, Nigeria and Brazil signed their first official co-production treaty for film, television, and digital content. Akoroko covered the announcement in real time and published a detailed breakdown of what the agreement could mean, and what still hasn’t been put in place. Subsequently, I found myself wondering not just about its future […]
Tracking 300+ African Feature Projects in Development (2022-2025)
The Akoroko project tracking database now holds 300+ African and diaspora feature films in development, captured since 2022. Premium subscribers received a snapshot (just 50 of them) as of July 2025. It’s a glimpse into a growing pipeline of African feature films at various stages: from early script development to financing, production, post, festival positioning, […]
Why I’m Still Tracking Côte d’Ivoire’s Box Office
Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in AI-generated audio. (5 minutes) Côte d’Ivoire is one of very few countries on the African continent—Francophone or otherwise—that has started to make its box office data accessible in a direct, consistent format. That’s why I’ve continued covering it. For someone like me who’s actually done the research, even […]
Africa at BlackStar 2025: 20+ Titles, 13 Countries, Shorts, Features, Experimental
More than 20 African and diaspora titles are set to screen at the 2025 edition of BlackStar Film Festival, held in Philadelphia, USA, representing a wide range of regions, genres, and styles. That count includes shorts, features, experimental work, and documentaries, telling stories from Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Ethiopia, and beyond. Several are North American or U.S. premieres. […]
Rethinking African Press Strategy: Legitimacy, Leverage, and Local Control
I have a front-row seat to what I believe is a critical moment in the coverage of African screen (film, TV, digital media) sectors (industries, landscapes, environments, ecosystems, etc., etc., etc.), and I anticipate gradual, and occasionally dramatic shifts in the coming years, particularly from 2025 onwards. I spent nearly four years working at IndieWire, where I gained […]
Akoroko Joins Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to Strengthen Digital Visibility of African Cinema
In 2024, I covered the launch of a new initiative designed to improve and expand Wikipedia’s coverage of African film and television, a gap that continues to limit how African cinemas are documented, referenced, and globally accessed. That initial campaign, tied to FESPACO and powered by The Africa Narrative and the Wikimedia Foundation, was the start […]
Canal+–MultiChoice Deal Approved. Now Comes the Restructuring
🎬 Canal+ now has full legal clearance to acquire MultiChoice. South Africa’s Competition Tribunal has approved the R35B deal, clearing the way for restructuring. 📌 Canal+ gains control of DStv, Showmax, and distribution across major territories📌 R26B in public interest conditions, including local content and structural spin-off📌 Netflix, CanalOlympia, myCANAL, even possibly TF1—access now passes […]
Mambéty at 80: It’s STILL Good for the Future of Cinema That Africa Exists
Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in AI-generated audio (8 minutes) Today would have been the 80th birthday of African cinema pioneer Djibril Diop Mambéty, born July 23, 1945, in Colobane, just outside Dakar, Senegal. He died young, in 1998, at 53. But his work, his influence, and his voice have never really […]