Film Africa 2026

Film Africa, the Royal African Society's festival of African cinema, returns to London for ten days in its 125th anniversary year. Around thirty features, documentaries and short-film programmes from across the continent and its diaspora screen at BFI Southbank, with more at partner cinemas including EbonyLife Place and Ciné Lumière.

The festival opens on Friday 23 October with Ben'imana at BFI Southbank and closes there on Sunday 1 November with the Nigerian drama Lady. In between come premieres, five shorts programmes and conversations with filmmakers.

It is a good chance to see African stories on a big screen in the heart of London, many of them before they reach streaming. Each screening is booked on its own through the festival's film calendar, which links to the hosting cinema's box office.