Nigeria is one of the 11 countries from around the world represented in the final selection of films for the 11th edition of the Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF), which will bring together filmmakers, industry professionals, students, creatives, and cinema enthusiasts from across Africa and beyond for the festival, scheduled to take place from September 24 to 27, 2026, at Golden Eagle Cinemas in Kumasi, Ghana.
The official selection, announced by the organizers, of films and filmmakers representing 11 countries was made from among submissions from 42 countries across Africa and other parts of the world for the 2026 edition of the festival, which will be held under the theme: “Film and Global Culture: The New Wave of African Cinema.”
Besides Nigeria, the other countries represented in the final selection are Ghana, Uganda, the United States of America, South Africa, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, Singapore, the Dominican Republic, and Russia.
Other countries where filmmakers submitted works include Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, Libya, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Japan, India, Mexico, and Colombia.
The 2026 edition marks a new chapter for the festival as it moves to Kumasi for the first time, bringing the event closer to one of Ghana’s most important centres of indigenous-language filmmaking, popular storytelling, and creative expression.
The organisers said the choice of Kumasi reflects the city’s distinctive place within Ghana’s film industry and its contribution to the development of local-language cinema.
Under its 2026 theme, BSIFF will explore how African cinema can build on its cultural strengths while responding to new opportunities created by technology, changing audiences, and the increasingly global nature of the creative industries.
According to the festival’s organisers, the programme will examine a future in which African stories are told in local languages and rooted in the continent’s cultures, while also travelling confidently across borders and reaching wider international audiences. The discussions will also consider new technologies and creative innovations that are reshaping filmmaking and storytelling.
The festival will be structured around four interconnected pillars, namely: Local Language Cinema; Building African Audiences; Mental Health for Creatives; and AI and the Future of African Storytelling, which, according to the organisers, are intended to encourage broader conversations about what will be required to build a stronger, more sustainable, and globally competitive African film industry.
Over the four days of the festival, participants will have opportunities to engage in film screenings, premieres, industry conversations, workshops, masterclasses, networking events. and other cultural and creative experiences, as the activities are expected to bring together filmmakers, producers, writers, animators, game developers, technology innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, students, and audiences.
A central concern of this year’s edition will be the challenge of building stronger audiences for African films within Africa itself, with the festival organisers arguing that the long-term growth of the continent’s film industry will depend not only on international recognition but also on developing sustainable local audiences and encouraging Africans to see African stories as a natural first choice for entertainment.
Thus, the festival organizers maintain that the future of African cinema should not be measured solely by how successfully African films travel internationally, but also by whether African audiences are watching, valuing, and economically sustaining African stories at home.
The programme will also include works across a range of categories and showcases, including Ghanaian and international films, documentaries, animation, student films, emerging African cinema, and technology-related forms of filmmaking.
It will feature a diverse range of cinematic voices and storytelling approaches across the International Showcase, Ghanaian Showcase, Student Showcase, Documentary, Africa Rising, Animated Films, AI Generated Films and Kumawood categories, alongside a selection of Special Screenings.
The Ghanaian Showcase provides local filmmakers with a dedicated competitive platform, while Africa Rising spotlights emerging voices from across the continent. The inclusion of Kumawood takes on particular significance as BSIFF moves to Kumasi this year, placing the festival within a city and filmmaking culture that has played a defining role in bringing Ghanaian stories, local languages, and popular cinema directly to audiences.
The International Showcase brings films from beyond Ghana into conversation with African work, reinforcing the cultural exchange that has been central to BSIFF since its establishment.
The introduction of AI Generated Films also highlights BSIFF’s interest in the rapidly changing technological landscape of filmmaking and the opportunities, challenges and questions emerging technologies present for African storytellers.
First held in 2015, BSIFF is entering its 11th edition as Ghana’s longest-running international film festival. Over the past decade, the festival has evolved beyond film exhibition into a platform for conversations about the structures, opportunities, and challenges involved in building a sustainable film industry in Ghana and across Africa.
Its history has intersected with important institutional developments within Ghana’s contemporary film ecosystem. The process that eventually led to the establishment of Ghana’s National Film Authority was announced on the BSIFF platform, after which BSIFF Founder, Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante, a Ghanaian film actress, producer, and director, was appointed to establish the Authority and serve as its founding Chief Executive Officer.
