Programme
Friday 11 September
Opening Event
Festival Opening
Friday 11 September 2026 18:00β18:10
Welcome to the Watch Africa Film Festival 2026. Opening remarks introducing the festival, programme and weekend ahead.
Feature Film
My Fatherβs Shadow
18:00 Watch Africa Film Festival 2026 x Reel Futures: My Fatherβs Shadow + panel discussion
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city's magnitude and their father's daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home.
Party
Akwaaba Launch Party
Friday 11 September 2026 20:15β21:45 Concourse
Rooted in Ghanaian culture, Akwaaba means βwelcomeβ and embodies the spirit of hospitality, warmth and belonging. The official launch party for Watch Africa Film Festival 2026 welcomes audiences, filmmakers, partners and guests into the festival weekend.
Saturday 12 September
Market
Mansa Market
SAT 12 SEPT & SUN 13 SEPT β 10:00β18:00 β CONCOURSE
Vendors, food, craft and textiles. Inspired by Mansa Musaβs pilgrimage and the international cultural exchange that journey created.
Shorts Programme
WAFF Short Films Finalists 2026
SAT 12 SEPT 10:00 Location: Screen 2
Madame Morel (RaΓ―ssa Ioussouf, France) and Do You Know Who I Am? (Paulo IdalΓ©cio, Angola), with QR audience voting open throughout.
Food & Discussion
Short Snacks
Sun 13 Sept Β· 11:30 Β· Cinema Foyer
After a curated selection of films, enjoy a range of African snacks and discuss what youβve just watched. Good conversation happens over good food.
Family / PG
Liyana
Sat 12 Sept Β· 11:30 Β· Eswatini
Five children in the Kingdom of Eswatini turn past traumas into the tale of a Swazi girl who embarks on a dangerous mission to save her twin brothers.
Feature Film
Luxor
Sat 12 Sept 13:10 β 85 minutes β Screen 2
Zeina Durra Β· Egypt Β· 2019. A British aid worker returns to the ancient city of Luxor and crosses paths with a former lover she canβt quite leave behind.
Workshop
African Storytelling Workshop
Saturday 12 September 13:30β14:30 β Cinema Foyer
With Bevin Magama. Guided exercises and creative prompts explore how stories connect us, preserve culture and inspire change. Open to all experience levels.
WAFF x Iris Prize
Dreamers
Saturday 12 September β 14:55 β Screen 2
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor Β· UK Β· 2025. A Nigerian migrant held at a UK asylum removal centre searches for the will to fight the system. Fundraiser screening with a panel discussion.
Workshop
African Dance Workshop
Sat 12 Sept Β· 15:00 β 15:00β16:00 Β· First Space
With Idrissa Camara. Drawing on West African dance traditions and contemporary performance, participants of all levels connect with live rhythms and movement.
Animation
Best of Africa 2025
Sat 12 Sept Β· 16:30 Β· Screen 1
WAFF x Cardiff Animation Fest x CTIAF. A curated selection of African animation shorts from across the continent and diaspora.
Feature Film
Omen
Sat 12 Sept Β·16:50 Β· 90 min. Screen 2
Baloji Β· Belgium / DR Congo Β· 2023. Four people considered witches and sorcerers find a way to help each other escape their fate.
Documentary Β· WAFF Finalist
Blue Burning
Sat 12 Sept Β· 18:40 Β·90 min. Screen 2
Janet Solomon Β· South Africa Β· 2024. A documentary response to the push to maximise South African offshore petroleum potential. QR audience voting open.
Film Screening Β· 15
Atlantics
Sat 12 Sept Β· 20:35 Β· 104 min Β· Screen 2
In a suburb of Dakar, unpaid construction workers decide to leave the country by ocean for a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada, promised to another. Mati Diopβs Atlantics won the Grand Prix at Cannes.
Sunday 13 September
Documentary Β· WAFF Finalist
War Child Chose Science
Sun 13 Sept Β·10:00am β 60 Minutes β Screen 2
PΓ€ivi Marja Elina Kapiainen-Heiskanen Β· Finland / Sierra Leone Β· 2025. The story of Paul Bangura, abducted for 11 months during Sierra Leoneβs civil war, who became convinced education was the way forward.
Shorts Programme
CCW x UrbanStamp Showcase
Sun 13 Sept Β·11:50 β Screen 2
Diaspora in Wales shorts including The Pocket, Ajoke, Ghost Conversations and Unsent Letter β plus the 24hr Film Challenge winner.
Feature Film
Memory of Princess Mubi
Sun 13 Sept Β·12:20 β 80 minutes β Screen 2
Damien Hauser Β· Kenya / Switzerland Β· 2023. In 2093, filmmaker Kuve documents a war that resurrected ancient kingdoms β and meets an actress who challenges everything he thought he knew.
Talk
Unmasking the Mask
Sun 13 Sept Β· 14:30 Β· Cinema Foyer
With Adeola Dewis. An interactive exploration of the stories, symbolism and traditions behind African masks, and their cultural and creative power.
Documentary Β· WAFF Finalist
The Banjo Boys
Sun 13 Sept Β· 16:00 β 76 minutes + 30 minute Q&A
Johan Nayar Β· Malawi Β· 2025. The electrifying rise of a Malawian duo who built their own instruments from nothing. Followed by a Q&A.
Workshop
An Interactive Sound & Story Workshop with Suntou Susso
Saturday 12 September Β· 18:30 Β· First Space
Suntou Susso. A hands-on session with West African instruments and rhythms β open to all experience levels.
Classic
Black Girl (La Noire deβ¦)
Sun 13 Sept Β·18:40 β 70 minutes β Screen 2
Ousmane SembΓ¨ne Β· Senegal Β· 1966. A Senegalese woman takes a job as governess for a French family β and finds her dignity tested by racism.
Ceremony
TUZO Awards Ceremony
13 September β 20:00 β Screen 1.
Awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short and the Audience Choice Award, chosen in part by your votes across the weekend.
Family Activity
Body and Face Painting Workshop
Sunday 13 September 2026 12:00 First Space 120 minutes
Drop-in face painting with Paskaline for families and festival-goers across the middle of the day.
Venue
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
All festival screenings, workshops and events take place at Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton, Cardiff. Screenings run in Cinema 1 and Cinema 2, with workshops in the Cinema Foyer and Dance Studio, and the market on the Concourse.
Follow the Festival
See the latest festival moments, announcements and conversations on Instagram.
Thereβs a reason this one travelled from a village on the Nile to Venice and the Oscars. Itβs a coming-of-age story about fear, faith and the moment you decide your life is your own, and it looks like nothing else.
Our first Monthly Screening, next Thursday at @oasiscdf , Splott. Pay what you can, link in bio.
Express Your Africa.
#WatchAfrica #WAFFMonthlyScreenings #YouWillDieAtTwenty #SudaneseCinema #AfricanCinema CardiffEvents
Imagine growing up with your death date already announced. Muzamil does, until a man arrives in his village with films, music and a different idea of what a life could be.
Our November Monthly Screening is one of the most beautiful Sudanese films ever made.
Next Thursday, @oasiscdf Cardiff, pay what you can.
Link in bio.
Express Your Africa.
ONE LAST LINK UP! π¬
Weβre wrapping up Black History Month with one final Young, Black & Bold event!
Join us in Butetown for a FREE screening of Rocks (2019), alongside music, live performances, food and a chance to come together as a community.
Whether youβve joined us before or itβs your first time, everyoneβs welcome!
π
Thursday 29 October
β° 6PM
π Butetown Pavilion, Cardiff
ποΈ FREE ENTRY!
Bring your people and come celebrate with us!
Book your FREE ticket! Link in bio.
Part of BFI FANβs Rip It Up season, supported by Film Hub Wales and made possible by the National Lottery.
50 years later and this story still hits. π¬
Growing up young, Black and British. Finding your identity, your voice and your place in a society that doesnβt always make room for you.
Pressure (1976) might have been made decades ago, but the conversations it brings up are still very much happening today.
This Thursday, weβre bringing this Black British classic to the big screen for our second Young, Black & Bold event! π
Come watch the film, bring your people and stay for the conversation afterwards.
π Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
π
Thursday 22 October
β° 5:30 PM
ποΈ Tickets from Β£5.
Part of BFI FANβs Rip It Up season, presented by Watch Africa Film Festival and supported by Film Hub Wales, with National Lottery funding.
#BlackHistoryMonth #Pressure1976 #BlackBritishCinema #YoungBlackAndBold #CardiffEvents
TOMORROW! Weβre bringing BABYLON to Butetown! π¬
This Black History Month, weβre taking it back to 1980 with Babylon, a Black British classic that still has so much to say about music, identity, racism and what it means to be young and Black in Britain.
If youβve seen it before, come experience it on the big screen. If you havenβt, this is your chance!
Weβre bringing people together for an evening of film, music and conversation. Come watch, share your thoughts and connect with the community.
π Butetown Community Centre, Cardiff
π
Wednesday 14 October
β° 6:30pm
ποΈ Tickets from Β£2
Bring a friend, bring your people. Weβd love to see you there!
Part of Rip It Up: Young, Black & Bold, presented by Watch Africa Film Festival.
Supported by Film Hub Wales as part of the BFI Film Audience Network, made possible by the National Lottery.
#WatchAfrica #RipItUp #Babylon1980 #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishCinema Butetown CardiffEvents
A Black British classic. On the big screen. Right here in Butetown. π¬
This Black History Month, Young, Black & Bold is bringing Babylon to Butetown for an evening of film, music and conversation.
Come through, watch the film with us and stay for the post-film conversation. Whether you already know Babylon or this is your first time seeing it, youβre welcome.
π
Wednesday 14 October
π Butetown Community Centre
π From 6 30 PM
Presented by Watch Africa Film Festival as part of BFI FANβs Rip It Up season.
Supported by Film Hub Wales as part of the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), made possible by the National Lottery.
Okayyy, let us introduce ourselves properly ππΎ
Meet some of the people behind Watch Africa and our RIP IT UP screenings this Black History Month.
From choosing the films and putting the screenings together, to all the bits you probably donβt see happening behind the scenes, this is some of the team making it happen.
Swipe through and meet the producers
And of course, come see what weβve been cooking.
Babylon | 14 October
Watch Africa x RIP IT UP
RIP IT UP: YOUNG, BLACK & BOLD π¬
Watch Africa Film Festival is bringing Black British stories of rebellion, identity and joy to Cardiff this autumn.
Catch Babylon, Pressure and Rocks β powerful films that capture the fire and heart of young Black British life β Q&As designed to spark real conversation.
π
Oct
π Local Cardiff cinema
ποΈ Films | Workshops | Q&A
Part of Rip It Up, BFI FANβs UK-wide celebration of youth culture on screen. Funded by Ffilm Hub Wales.
More details dropping soon β watch this space π
#YoungBlackAndBold #RipItUp #WatchAfricaFilmFestival
