The NBO Film Festival 2025, Kenya’s premier annual cinema event, returns for its 6th edition in Nairobi from October 16 to 26, 2025. Founded by Mbithi Masya and Sheba Hirst, the festival has grown from a small local showcase into East Africa’s most dynamic platform for African and diaspora cinema, screening films from over 15 countries. The 2025 program expands with a new competitive section, a dedicated Kenyan category, and industry initiatives in partnership with Docubox and Realness Institute. Jury members include Wanuri Kahiu and Elsaphan Njora, while films such as My Father’s Shadow, The Fisherman, and Promised Sky headline the lineup. NBO continues to bridge commercial and community exhibition spaces across Nairobi, establishing itself as a cornerstone of Kenya’s film ecosystem and a gateway for African filmmakers to global audiences.
NBO Film Festival 2025: Kenya’s Leading Cinema Event Returns in Nairobi
The NBO Film Festival — named after Nairobi’s international airport code and based in Kenya’s capital — begins its 6th edition on October 16, 2025. Founded in 2017 by filmmaker Mbithi Masya (“Kati, Kati”) and producer Sheba Hirst, it was conceived as a response to the absence of a serious platform for Kenyan cinema in Nairobi. The first edition drew several hundred people to Prestige Plaza Cinema, a commercial multiplex in the heart of the city. Within two years, the festival had expanded to include African and diaspora films, growing its audience multifold and establishing a consistent annual structure before the pandemic interruption in 2020.
Since its return in 2024, NBO has moved beyond a single-venue format. Screenings now take place across both commercial and community spaces, including Prestige Cinema, Unseen Nairobi, and Kaloleni Social Hall, to expand public access. The 2025 edition, running from October 16 to 26, builds on this and introduces two structural additions: a competitive section and a dedicated Kenyan category for the first time.
Twenty-six films from more than fifteen countries are programmed, including five in competition — “The Dog” (Kenya-Sweden, directed by Baker Karim), “Memory of Princess Mumbi” (Kenya-Switzerland, Damien Hauser), ‘My Father’s Shadow’ (Nigeria-UK, Akinola Davies), ‘Promised Sky’ (Tunisia-France, Erige Sehiri), and ‘The Fisherman’ (Ghana-US, Zoey Martinson).
The jury is chaired by Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, joined by multidisciplinary artist Elsaphan Njora, producer Carol Kioko, and actor-writer Mũmbi Kaigwa.
The opening film, “How To Build A Library,” directed by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, premiered earlier this year at Sundance. It follows two women working to rehabilitate Nairobi’s McMillan Memorial Library, a public institution dating to the colonial era.
The program also includes new Kenyan titles including “Sayari” (directed by Omar Hamza), “Widow Champion” (directed by Zippy Kimundu), “It’s A Free Country” (directed by John ‘JJ’ Jumbo), “Memory of Princess Mumbi” (directed by Damien Hauser), and “The People Shall” (directed by Nick Wambugu and Mark Maina).
From outside Kenya, the lineup includes “Aisha Can’t Fly Away” (Egypt, directed by Morad Mostafa), “The Weekend” (Nigeria, directed by Daniel Oriahi), “Nana” (Tanzania, directed by Matthew J. Mkoga), “Mothers of Chibok” (Nigeria), “Mother City” (South Africa), “Memories of Love Returned” (Uganda), and “Matabeleland” (Zimbabwe).
The 2025 program also introduces “Shorts, Shorts & Shots” — run in collaboration with Docubox, the East African Documentary Film Fund — returning as the festival’s short-film platform, and “Latin America Connect,” a new strand featuring films curated in collaboration with partners across Latin America.
And free public screenings are scheduled at Kaloleni Social Hall, alongside other community venues across Nairobi.
Beyond the film showcase, the festival runs an industry program featuring workshops, artist-to-artist conversations, roundtables, and pitching sessions with international buyers and distributors. The 2025 edition also introduces a new professional development track for mid-career creators, designed in partnership with the African Film & Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) and led by Mehret Mandefro of Realness Institute.
Other industry events include buyer meetings and a “Creators’ Brunch” for emerging women filmmakers.
As of 2025, the NBO Film Festival is the leading annual film event in Kenya. It operates as both exhibition and development infrastructure, connecting filmmakers to audiences and to international networks. Led by a team that now includes Louiza Wanjiku and Bramwel Iro, Co-Founder and CEO of LBx Africa, the festival is focusing on governance and long-term partnerships to sustain consistent, year-round activity.
Its current priorities are advancing mid-career professional development, extending public access beyond commercial theaters, and maintaining an independent selection and jury process for African films. Following several interrupted years, what ultimately matters now is long-term continuity and establishing NBO as a key cultural institution within Kenya’s screen ecosystem.
I won’t be in Nairobi for this year’s NBO Film Festival. Several of the feature titles screening — particularly those in competition — have shown at earlier festivals, where I saw and reviewed them; I’ll repurpose those for context and publish new ones if I’m able to watch additional films via screeners.
For comprehensive coverage from the ground, I’m pointing subscribers to Sinema Focus, Akoroko’s African Film Press (AFP) East Africa partner, led by Jennifer Ochieng.
We had planned a pre-festival conversation with NBO’s executive team, but timing and schedules made it challenging ahead of the October 16 launch. We’ll reconnect after the festival for a full discussion on NBO’s evolution and direction, which I’ll publish soon thereafter, with an eye toward the 2026 edition.
For now, follow Sinema Focus for coverage: Website, Instagram, Twitter.
And for the full NBO 2025 lineup, click here.