Why Many African Festival Films Never Reach Our Cinemas

Cinema has the power to speak to African audiences in their own languages. Yet many festival films never make it to our screens. In 1973, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki won awards at Cannes but was barely shown in Senegal. Projectionists lacked bulbs and distributors charged steep fees. Across the continent, talented filmmakers faced similar obstacles. Prints sat in storage rooms, rights stayed overseas, and VHS tapes wore out until the films vanished. This history exposes gaps in our film infrastructure and reminds us how easily cultural treasures can be lost.

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