The 29th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) is set for February 22 to March 1, 2025, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Chad is the guest of honor country.
Preparations are well underway. Alex Moussa Sawadogo, the General Delegate of FESPACO, provided key updates during a press conference in Ouagadougou on August 8. [Premium subscribers received a full report on the same day]
A few of the details…
– The festival’s theme is “African Cinemas and Cultural Identities.”
– Jury presidents: For fiction feature films, Souleymane Cissé (Mali), and for documentary feature films, Judy Kibinge (Kenya).
– New features include a Public Prize and a Critics’ Week, which might be similar to what Cannes offers.
– Chad has been selected as the guest of honor country, which is noteworthy for a few reasons. One of them is that the country’s most renowned filmmaker, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, has been sharply critical of FESPACO in the past, citing broad organizational problems. Haroun said in 2011 that he would not return to FESPACO until the issues were resolved. With his country in focus, will he be there in 2025?
As for FESPACO itself, looking at 2025 and beyond, there are questions to be addressed, with the African filmmaking landscape increasingly in the global spotlight.
In an upcoming Akoroko Premium newsletter (and possibly an Akoroko Chat episode), I will dig deep into these questions about FESPACO’s role, challenges, and future, with insights from people on the frontlines!