Events » Film Festivals » AAIFF Africa - All African Independent Film Festival
With one in four people on the planet being African by 2050, a seismic change is already starting to register in the global independent filmmaking community. The All African Independent Film Festival (AAIFF Africa), based in Kigali, Rwanda will showcase the immense breadth and talent in independent filmmaking from the 54 countries that make
up the continent, where independent cinema plays an ever increasing, and crucial role, in amplifying diverse voices and narratives. As African cinema gains global recognition, the expected local and global growth in viewership reflects a burgeoning interest in authentic storytelling and unique perspectives from the continent in which 1.3 billion people live and create.
AAIFF Africa 2025 offers 16 awards in 10 categories including Africa’s Best Independent Film Director 2025 and Africa’s Best Independent Film 2025.
As the sister film festival of ÉCU—the European Independent Film Festival, which has been held in Paris for 20 years, the AAIFF Africa has the ability to harness the rock-solid reputation of the ÉCU Film Festival Group as being one of the World’s foremost independent film festivals groups and to help bring global attention to Africa’s independent filmmakers.
Our objective is to offer excellent opportunities for all the African independent filmmakers to find audiences for their films, to connect with peers, distributors and talent scouts – and importantly to provide them unforgettable film festival experience.
Prizes range from year to year.
The awards for the 2025 edition are:
Africa’s Best Independent Film 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Film Director 2025
Best Cinematography 2025
Best Editing 2025
Best Actress 2025
Best Actor 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Dramatic Feature Film 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Dramatic Short Film 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Documentary 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Music Video 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Animated Film 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Student Film 2025
Africa’s Best Independent Experimental Film 2025
Best Independent Feature Script 2025
Best Independent Short Script 2025
Rwandan Students Special Award 2025
Films should be independent in spirit and original in perspective. Open to all films made with less than 50% participation by a major studio or television broadcaster. Films may be submitted in any language, however every film must have English subtitles, including the films in English. Appropriate subtitles are required to ensure the best screening for our audience.
A synopsis of no more than 180 characters in English, a screenshot from the film and a short director's biography also in English are requested upon submission. The films must be completed since 1st of January 2024.
The films must be from one of the countries in the following list:
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cameroon
Central African Republic (CAR)
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cote d’Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
By Maura Nicolaita
Oct 18
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