Following on from two successful, Sydney-exclusive years, African Film Festival Australia (AFFA) has today announced that this year it will screen in Melbourne’s Cinema Nova. The news comes along with the full program announcement for 2026, so audiences in Melbourne will know what to watch when the festival arrives for a three-day run between Friday, March 27 and Sunday, March 29.
On the opening night is “The Fisherman,” the first-ever Ghanaian film to be selected for the Venice International Film Festival, in which a retired fisherman finds his quiet life disrupted by an unlikely friendship with a talking fish. Next is “Nawi,” a Kenyan film that won Best International Feature and Best Debut Performance at the 2025 Raindance Film Festival, in which a young girl in rural Kenya escapes an arranged child marriage to pursue an education.
The French-Algerian “Fanon” is a political drama entry for the program, following Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist and philosopher in colonial Algeria, whose radical mental health care techniques intersect with the country’s growing independence. Director Jean-Claude Flamand-Barny will lead a Q&A following the screening.
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FestIn 2025’s winner of Best Documentary, “Nteregu,” is a lyrical documentary that traces the origins and global impact of Guinean music, a screening co-presented with African Music and Cultural Festival. Another prestigious entry is “My Father’s Shadow,” winner of a coveted Caméra d’Or Special Mention at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, which follows a father taking his two sons across the Nigerian capital of Lagos during a period of political unrest, exposing the responsibilities of parenthood in times of social upheaval.
Finally, there’s “This Jungo Life,” which won Best Documentary and Best International Documentary at the 2025 Bantu Film Festival in Botswana and Festival Filmowy NNW, respectively. This Botswanian-made documentary portrays young Sudanese men who must struggle to survive and thrive on the margins amid displacement, poverty and conflict.
Festival Co-Director Mumbi Hinga said, “Bringing the Festival to the Cinema Nova allows us to share these powerful stories with new communities and continue building space for African voices on Australian screens. It cements our role as a national platform for African cinema, cultural exchange and diverse storytelling.”
AFFA Melbourne is presented by Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) and Cinema Nova, supported by Weir Anderson Foundation, Ubuntu Project, Kenya Community Victoria, SF3, and the African Music and Cultural Festival. For more information or to book your tickets, visit the AFFA website.