The Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF) has unveiled a lineup of 76 films from 33 countries for its 17th edition
The festival acknowledges stories from across the African continent and diaspora, and is scheduled to run from 8 to 11 October, 2026 in California, USA.
The festival programme includes projects in different formats, including narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, and animation, from 21 African countries. Selected countries include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Narrative feature projects include Namibian filmmaker Elisabeth Tonata Hamukwaya’s Mwananga, Gabonese filmmaker David Mboussou’s AFROTŌPIA, Ugandan filmmaker Maureen Jolly Nankya’s SLUM BOMBER, South African filmmaker Lwazi Duma’s Thulebona, and Beneath The Tides, directed by Kenyan filmmakers Mbithi Masya, Millan Tarus, Mark Wambui, Barbara Minishi, Samuel Tebandeke.
In the narrative short category, projects include Mauritanian filmmaker Boubecrine Ibrahim El Mamy’s Anima, Senegalese filmmaker Zeyna Seyni Diop’s Burden of Silence, Nigerian filmmaker Ola “Naked” Jegede’s Convictions, Angolan filmmaker Paulo Idalécio’s Do You Know Who I Am?, and Tanzanian filmmaker Kelvin Kagambo’s Embe Dodo.
Part of the documentary lineup are shorts such as Ugandan filmmaker Denis Israel’s The Blind Family, Kenyan filmmaker Robert Mutahi Macharia’s What Shall I Wear To My Funeral?, South African filmmaker Felicia Mokgara’s Living Under Water, Nigerian filmmaker David Akwara’s 40 Years of Crafting AFRICA; and features such as Togolese filmmaker Joel M’Maka Tchedre’s CENT DOUZE, Kenyan directors Robert Asimba and Ras Mutabaruka’s Fight For Life, and Nigerian filmmaker Daro Umaigba’s SUYA – A Spicy Piece of Home.
This year’s programme also highlights projects linked to African diaspora communities across Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Réunion, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Silicon Valley African Film Festival promotes an understanding and appreciation of Africa and Africans through moving images. Aptly themed “Africa through the African lens”, the festival celebrates the vast richness of the African continent through the lenses of Africa’s seasoned and emerging filmmakers and crucially, aims to provide audiences with exquisite lenses to the real Africa.
In fulfillment of its mission, SVAFF seeks to:
- Curate a world-class festival of African films and provides audiences access to the richness, diversity, and vitality of Africa’s creative expressions.
- Promote cultural literacy through post-screening dialogues, community and school outreach so audiences can engage with African filmmakers on issues of personal, local, and global significance.
- Promote ideas exchange and collaborations between American and African film industry practitioners.
The festival offers a window into Africa’s diverse cultures, histories, and perspectives with a robust program that includes film screenings, talkback sessions with filmmakers, fashion shows, live performances, panel discussions, workshops, and an African market. Held annually at the Historic Hoover Theater in San Jose, it showcases approximately 2,000 films from over 33 countries.