The 10 Best African Documentaries of 2024

‘Made in Ethiopia’ - Ethiopia/U.S./Denmark/U.K./Canada/Korea

In Made in Ethiopia, cultures clash, and forces of capitalism collide in Dukem, a small agrarian town southeast of Addis Ababa. Directors Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu examine China's spreading influence in Africa. Made in Ethiopia presents its unique viewpoint by focusing on a trio of women—one Chinese and two Ethiopian—a demographic often ignored in grand narratives about bilateral trade. Its world premiere was on June 6 at the Tribeca Festival.

‘Sudan, Remember Us’ - Tunisia/France/Qatar

Sudan's protracted civil war has claimed the lives of over 14,000 and displaced at least 8 million people. In 2019, Paris-based filmmaker Hind Meddeb traveled to Khartoum to document the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir and his 30-year destructive regime. Embedding herself with the voices and boots on the ground, Meddeb captured footage of young activists, many of them female, rallying for change through their art. Sudan, Remember Us is an example of activist and empathetic filmmaking that provides key social context. The world premiere was on August 30 at the Venice International Film Festival.

‘Our Land, Our Freedom’ - Kenya/U.S./Portugal/Germany

This clear-eyed account of one woman's fight for justice and reparations highlights the connection between land resources and political freedom. Our Land, Our Freedom tells the story of Kenya through the lens of land justice. Wanjugu, daughter of legendary freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, is on a mission to find the remains of her late father, who British colonial officers executed. Directors Meena Nanji and Zippy Kimundu trailed Wanjugu for six years as her purpose shifted to crusading for the resettlement of Kimathi's comrades, surviving members of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) who were dispossessed of their ancestral lands. This documentary premiered in November 2023 at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

‘Memories of Love Returned’ - Uganda/U.S.

Ugandan-American actor and filmmaker Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine has earned regard for his work in mainstream shows like The Chi and The Lincoln Lawyer. Mwine has also been working on this labor of love for the last twenty-two years. Memories of Love Returned started from Mwine's encounter with local photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo. Both men struck up a friendship that lasted until Ssalongo's death. Mwine's film is a tribute to the terrific work of this talented artist. It is also more than that, as Ssalongo's colorful life opens up complex discussions about patriarchy, history, and community. Memories of Love Returned premiered October 12 at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival.

‘The Battle for Laikipia’ - Kenya/U.S.

This riveting documentary focuses on the generational conflict between Samburu pastoral herders and European settlers who run conservancies and commercial ranches in the tourist-friendly central region of Laikipia, Kenya. Directed by Pete Murimi and Daphne Matziaraki, The Battle for Laikipia adopts an even-handed, often frustrating approach to documenting the fault lines even as tensions escalate and both sides turn to violence. It is a complicated, delicate situation, and The Battle for Laikipia is honest enough to accept this. The film's world premiere was on January 21 at Sundance.

‘Mother City’ - South Africa

Cape Town has been registered as the most unequal city in the world, where natural beauty, lavish wealth, and soul-crushing poverty coexist uncomfortably. The hard-hitting Mother City documents the efforts of a young man who leads an urban movement that dares to demand a more favorable economic situation. Filmed over six years by Miki Redelinghuys and Pearlie Joubert, Mother City is, in turn, frustrating and inspiring but very necessary. This chronicle of the David versus Goliath battle between Reclaim the City activists and domestic workers who take on the behemoth of property power and politics in Cape Town, all the way to the Supreme Court, might make you believe once more in people power. Mother City opened the Encounters Documentary Film Festival on June 19.

‘The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder’ - Mozambique, Germany, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway

This enrapturing experience is the second feature by Mozambican filmmaker Inadelso Cossa. Mixing memory with personal histories and sensory historical urgency, the film is somewhat of a ghost story rooted in Mozambique's civil war, which lasted fifteen years and ended in 1992. Cossa returns to his grandmother's village, a liminal space where post-war reconciliations mean that former rebels now live among their surviving victims. Cossa films most of the scenes at night, interweaving his grandmother's memories with sequences of villagers reenacting traumatic events. World premiere - February 17 at the Berlinale.

‘Rising Up at Night’ - DRC, Burkina Faso, Belgium, Germany, Qatar

Director Nelson Makengo paints a vivid picture of life in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. City residents suffer 99 problems ranging from poor infrastructure to natural disasters and constant power shortages that envelop the city in darkness. Armed with resilience and uncommon determination, the people soldier on. Makengo's compelling characters witness the indestructible nature of the human spirit, and he establishes some duty of care while filming them with grace and dignity. The film will have its world premiere on February 20 at the Berlinale.

‘My Mercury’ - South Africa/U.K.

‘Dahomey’ - Benin/Senegal/France

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