Nine African Films Showing at the 2025 Berlinale
The African representation at this year’s Berlinale is a mix of dramas, documentaries, and short features.
Poster for the documentary ‘Khartoum’, which will screen at the 75th Berlinale.
Last year's Berlinale witnessed filmmaker Mati Diop'shistoric Golden Bear win for her sophomore feature, Dahomey. It was the first time a black director would win the top prize in the prestigious film festival Competition category.
The festival's 75th edition will begin on February 13 and last for 10 days. Over 180 confirmed films will be screened across several dedicated categories, with American filmmaker Todd Haynes serving as the president of the awards jury. So far, eight African films will be screened—nine if you include Dreamers, the immigrant-centered drama by British Nigerian director Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.
About half of the African films will be getting their world premiere at the Berlinale, with three of them, including Dreamers, being debuts. The African representation at this year's Berlinale combines drama films, documentaries, and short features.'Akher Youm'
In this documentary, Egyptian director Mahmoud Ibrahim captures the real-time reaction of brothers Ziad and Moody as they hear the news about the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. The brothers were spending their last day at their family's home, which had been marked for demolition when they saw the Palestine news on television.
'Ancestral Visions of the Future'
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese'sThis is not a Burial, It's a Resurrection, which premiered at the 2020 Berlinale, was thefirst film submitted by Lesotho for Best International Feature Film consideration at the Oscars. Mosese returns to the festival with Ancestral Visions of the Future, a poetic allegory of his childhood that reflects on dislocation and belonging. The documentary is also an ode to cinema and a homage to his mother.
‘Daye: Secret Ahl El Daye’
11-year-old Daye is a Nubian albino with a beautiful voice and dreams of superstardom, inspired by his idol, iconic Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir. Directed by Karim El Shenawy, Secret Ahl El Daye (The Tale of Daye's Family) follows the titular character and his family as they travel from Aswan to Cairo so Daye can compete in the talent show The Voice Kids. Daye premiered at last year's Red Sea Film Festival and will screen in the Generation category at the Berlinale.
'Dreamers'
Nigerian-born Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor has had a full career as a producer on dozens of projects. Dreamers is her debut full-length feature film, following the web drama series Boxx and the short film For Love. Primarily set in an immigration removal center, the film centers on Isio (Ronke Adekoluejo), who is caught working without papers. At the deportation center, Isio finds love and schemes her way to find freedom – even if it means doing the wrong thing.
'Khartoum'
Sudan's ongoing civil war irrevocably changed the lives of many, including the hundreds of thousands it displaced. In Khartoum, an ensemble cast of filmmakers follows the lives of five people – a civil servant, a tea lady, a resistance committee volunteer, and two street boys – as they are forced to flee the country's capital after the war breaks out. Khartoum is also one of two African films that will have their world premieres at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
'Mikuba'
In Mikuba, Petna Ndaliko Katondolo takes viewers into Kolwezi, the cobalt-rich capital city of the Lualaba Province, in the south of DR Congo, where ordinary citizens fight for their rights to regulate mining. Community leader Mama Leonece navigates a labyrinth of multinational giants and faces a harsh reality that guides her toward ancestral wisdom.
'Minimals in a Titanic World'
Rwandan director Philbert Aimé Mbabazi Sharangabo makes his feature film debut after a career defined by a litany of short films. Minimals in a Titanic World, which will receive its world premiere in the Forum section of the Berlinale, focuses on Anita, a young lady who is out of jail and struggling to control her aggression. The freewheeling film uses a variant of evocative elements – light, color, dance, and music – to portray a group of friends with someone missing at its heart.
‘Ne réveillez pas l'enfant qui dort’
Diamant, the 15-year-old protagonist from Dakar in Kevin Aubert's short film, Ne réveillez pas l'enfant qui dort (Don't Wake the Sleeping Child), has big dreams of making films, but her family wants her to do something else. On the morning of an important appointment she dreads, Diamant falls into a deep sleep, while her loved ones try everything they can to wake her up.
'The Heart is a Muscle'
At a barbecue, Ryan (Keenan Arrison) reacts violently to his 5-year-old son briefly going missing. The scare sets off a chain of events that leads to a journey of self-discovery and forgiveness. Directed by Iman Hamdulay, the film "explores what it means to be a son, father, husband and a man, through the lens of generational healing and forgiveness."
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