Pan-African indie film festival AAIFF Africa returns to Kigali with Kenyan, Ugandan works

The All African Independent Film Festival (AAIFF Africa) returns to Kigali from 15 to 17 October 2026, screening 19 films from 14 African countries across seven categories competing for 13 awards, according to the festival's organisers.

The festival takes place at the Centre Culturel Francophone Kigali, also known as the French Institute of Rwanda, at 25 KG 624 Street, Rugando, in the Rwandan capital. The 2026 official selection draws entries from Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia, among the 14 countries represented. Kenya's entry in the festival's cinema programme, the documentary Kikuyu Land, screens on 17 October from 16:30 to 18:04.

AAIFF Africa is one of four sister festivals run by the ÉCU Film Festival Group, alongside ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival in Paris, AAIFF Asia and AAIFF Americas. ÉCU was founded in Paris in 2006 by the Australian filmmaker Scott Hillier and is dedicated to independent cinema outside the traditional studio system, according to background on the festival. AAIFF Africa is its African spinoff, based in Kigali.

Kenyan entries have performed strongly at the festival's most recent edition. At the second AAIFF Africa in October 2025, a jury chaired by the Nigerian filmmaker C.J. "Fiery" Obasi awarded Africa's Best Independent Film to The Yellow Dress, directed by Kenya's Caroline "Coach" Odongo, according to Afrocritik, which covered the winners' announcement.

The same 2025 edition gave its Best Independent Documentary award to 10 Toes Down, directed by Kenyan filmmaker Ian Gituku, a film following a rally team's preparations that explores Kenya's rally-driving culture, according to an announcement of the documentary by its production company, The Wine Story Films. Sarah, directed by Kenya's Nick Reding, won Best Independent Dramatic Feature Film, while Xavier Ywaya won Best Actor for his role in The Yellow Dress. The 2025 edition featured 21 films from 16 countries and the diaspora.

Kigali Cine Junction, a separate festival focused on Rwandan cinema, grew from 600 participants at its first edition in 2023 to more than 2,400 in 2025, according to allAfrica.com, with its organising team expanding from ten members to more than 90 over the same period.

Separately, the Rwanda Film Federation is planning a dedicated production hub to address gaps in local filmmaking infrastructure, modelled in part on South Korea's KOFIC studios and on Hollywood facilities, the federation's vice-president, Rukundo Aimé Valens, told InyaRwanda. He said the project needs financial and construction partners, including for land acquisition, and aims to resolve location constraints within three years.

Tickets are sold through an Eventbrite link on the festival's website, aaiffafrica.com, which also carries the trailers of the official selection.