AFRIFF 2026 Must Watch Feature Films — Your Complete Festival Guide

The Story⚡

A taxi cuts through the sticky Lagos night with women who know every street after dark. High in the Algerian mountains, a nurse turns a crumbling cabin into a hidden refuge. Somewhere in China, a girl gathers new names as she moves from one home to the next. These are the first frames. Here are the feature films you don’t want to miss at AFRIFF 2026. 

Tell Me More  

The 15th Africa International Film Festival (1–7 November 2026, Lagos) presents 23 feature films among its 135 selections under the theme “Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence.” It includes Nigerian dramas, a Ugandan boxing story, and international titles brought in through embassy partnerships. Screenings are ticketed for the first time, so it pays to choose with care. These are the feature films worth planning around. 

Lady  

Olive Nwosu’s debut opens the festival. A Lagos taxi driver ferries a group of sex workers through the night and finds her carefully guarded independence tested by unexpected bonds of sisterhood. The film won the Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble at Sundance and has screened at Berlinale and BFI London.  

It’s the Blackness  

Hakeem Kae-Kazim’s feature directorial debut closes the festival. Two close friends navigate ambition, family pressure, relationships and the complexities of immigration and belonging in a black comedy-drama that balances humour with sharp observation.  

A Common Story  

Anna Foglietta’s feature debut stars Alba Rohrwacher and Guido Caprino as a couple whose quiet rural life is upended when their daughter leaves for university. The Italian drama carefully observes the empty-nest crisis and the subtle renegotiation of a long marriage.  

A Girl Unknown 

Zou Jing’s debut follows a Chinese girl across more than a decade and three different households during the era of the one-child policy. She takes on different names while searching for belonging and identity. Li Gengxi and child actress Cao Ruofan lead this quietly powerful coming-of-age story that premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week.  

Abeni 

Esse Akwawa and Samuel Olasehinde’s film draws from an undocumented oral historical account. A young woman challenges tradition by learning the sacred craft of forging, a skill long reserved for men. Shot at Africhatta Film Village in Oyo State, it blends cultural memory with personal determination.  

Hadda  

Ahmed Riad’s Algerian historical drama pays tribute to the nurses of the National Liberation War. Inspired by the testimony of Yamina Cherrad Bennaceur, it follows Hadda, who turns an abandoned mountain cabin into a refuge where she treats wounded fighters and trains young women in first aid. 

Which Way 

Jide Okeke’s film is listed among the features. 

Slum Bomber

Maureen Jolly Nankya (also known as Maureen Nankya) directs this Ugandan story inspired by the true experiences of female boxer Julie Aloyo. A young woman from northern Uganda, shaped by the trauma of the LRA conflict, pursues boxing in Kampala against the odds.  

Variations on a Theme

Devon Delmar and Jason Jacobs’ South African film follows elderly goat-herder Hettie (played by Jacobs’ grandmother Hettie Farmer) in the remote Northern Cape community of Kharkams. A scam promising long-overdue war reparations intertwines with daily life and lingering colonial legacies. It won the Tiger Award at Rotterdam.  

One Woman One Bra  

Vincho Nchogu’s Kenyan-Nigerian debut centres on Star, a 38-year-old unmarried woman in a rural Maasai community whose claim to her home is threatened when land title deeds are distributed according to kinship ties. Sarah Karei leads this sharp, humorous drama about identity, womanhood and land rights. It won the Sutherland Award at BFI London.  

Riverstone  

Lalith Rathnayake’s Sri Lankan drama follows three police officers transporting a prisoner through the Knuckles mountain range under the implicit threat of extrajudicial execution. Personal struggles, moral dilemmas, and power dynamics unfold on the confined journey. It has been selected as Sri Lanka’s official Oscar entry.  

Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and the Burdens of Excess 

Christine Boateng and Hajara Musah Chambas co-direct this exploration of sisterhood and the weight of excess. Specific plot details remain limited in currently available materials.  

Her Daughters’ Mother  

Chinàzaēkpērē Chukwu’s feature debut is set in Benin City. Ejiro, married off at 16 and later widowed with two daughters, enters a second marriage hoping for stability, only to face pressure for a male heir. The film examines motherhood, protection, and societal expectation across generations.  

Where the Sun Shines Bright  

Directed by LAM Can-zhao 

Noah’s Daughter 

Directed by Amirreza Jalalian. 

Mabanda  

Directed by Kang Quintus.

The Tropic Sun and His Eyes 

Directed by Elisee Junior St Preux.  

Your AFRIFF 2026 Feature Films Screening Guide

All screenings run from November 1 to 6, 2026 at Landmark, Screens 1, 3, 4 and 5. Opening night and closing night are by invitation only.

In Summary 

These features span continents and sensibilities, Lagos nights, Algerian mountains, Sri Lankan highlands, Kenyan villages, South African goat pastures and Chinese households shaped by policy. AFRIFF 2026 brings them together in Lagos for seven days. The screenings offer a chance to encounter stories that stay with you.

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