Africa Film Fest Australia (AFFA), curated by Mumbi Hinga and Safia Amadou and presented in partnership with Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE), today announces its national expansion in 2026, arriving in Melbourne Friday 27 to Sunday 29 March at Cinema Nova, following two successful years of festivals in Sydney.
Festival Co-Director Safia Amadou said, “After multiple sold-out screenings in Sydney in 2025, AFFA is bringing bold, joyful and thought-provoking African films to Melbourne audiences. Featuring award-winning work from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Algeria and Guinea-Bissau, the program reflects a growing appetite for African cinema, placing African voices at the centre of Australian screens.”
The Festival opens with The Fisherman, the first Ghanaian film officially selected for the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded UNESCO’s Fellini Medal (Enrico Fulchignoni Prize) in recognition of its message of peace, tolerance and intercultural dialogue.
The Melbourne program includes:
- Opening Night Film - The Fisherman (Ghana | Melbourne Premiere) - A whimsical, politically astute film that follows a retired coastal fisherman whose quiet life is disrupted when he forms an unlikely friendship with a talking fish, resonating with audiences across the globe.
- Nawi (Kenya | Melbourne Premiere) - Winner of Best International Feature and Best Debut Performance at the 2025 Raindance Film Festival in London. A young girl sold for livestock escapes an arranged child marriage to pursue an education. An urgent, hopeful story of resistance in rural Kenya. Nawi will be co-presented with Kenya Community Victoria.
- Fanon (France/Algeria | Melbourne Premiere) - A political drama following psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon in colonial Algeria, as his radical approach to mental health care intersects with the country’s growing independence movement. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, Jean-Claude Flamand-Barny.
- Nteregu (Guinea-Bissau | Melbourne Premiere) - Winner of Best Documentary (Audience Award) at FestIN 2025 (Festival de Cinema Itinerante da Língua Portuguesa). A lyrical documentary tracing the origins and global influence of Guinean music, centring women’s voices and ancestral instruments in the formation of national identity. Nteregu will be co-presented with African Music and Cultural Festival.
- My Father’s Shadow (Nigeria | Melbourne Premiere) - Received a prestigious Caméra d'Or Special Mention at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and winner of the 2025 British Independent Film Award for Best Director. Set over a single day in Lagos, a father takes his two sons across the city during a period of political unrest, revealing the quiet tensions, tenderness and responsibilities of parenthood against a backdrop of social upheaval.
- This Jungo Life (Sudan | Melbourne Premiere) - Winner of Best Documentary at the 2025 Bantu Film Festival (Botswana, 2025) and Best International Documentary at Festiwal Filmowy NNW 2025. An unflinching documentary portrait of young Sudanese men living on the margins, capturing daily survival, friendship and resilience amid displacement, poverty and ongoing conflict. This Jungo Life is co-presented with SmartFone Flick Fest Pty Ltd (SF3) and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the Melbourne-based film Director David Fedele.
Festival Co-Director Mumbi Hinga said, “Bringing the Festival to the Cinema Nova allows us to share these powerful stories with new communities and continue building space for African voices on Australian screens. It cements our role as a national platform for African cinema, cultural exchange and diverse storytelling.”
AFFA Melbourne is presented by Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) and Cinema Nova, with support from Weir Anderson Foundation, Ubuntu Project, Kenya Community Victoria, SF3, and the African Music and Cultural Festival.
FESTIVAL DETAILS
Cinema Nova, Melbourne
Friday 27 - Sunday 29 March 2026
Full program and ticket details are available at: https://aceinc.org.au/whats-on/affa-melbourne/
Stay up to date with Africa Film Fest Australia:
Website: https://africafilmfest.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africafilmfest/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/africafilmfest/
Stay up to date with Arts & Cultural Exchange:
Website: https://aceinc.org.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aceparramatta/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACEorgau/