Jali Film Weekender Edinburgh’s New Black, Africa and Diasporan Festival …
Jali Collective launches its inaugural Jali Film Weekender, a new film festival celebrating Black, African and diaspora stories to be held in Edinburgh from 30th October to 2nd November 2025 at the city’s newly reopened Filmhouse Cinema.
The theme of this festival is Dreams and Apparitions, which will weave through the programme’s films and events, exploring subjects such as grief, memory, imagination, new and alternate futures, and the seen and unseen in the African and diasporic experience.
The Weekender is rooted in fostering community, connection and representation, with a focus on platforming a range of voices, styles and stories from across the African continent and its global diaspora. A key ambition of the new collective and festival is to build intentional relationships with Black, African and diaspora audiences in Edinburgh and Scotland.
The showcase will open with the Scottish Premiere of Memory of Princess Mumbi, the ground-breaking new afro-futurist film from Swiss-Kenyan director Damien Hauser. Fresh from its World Premiere at Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori in September, the film unfolds in a post-technological future African continent and is a joy-filled love letter to cinema, showcasing a beautifully unique, imaginative approach to filmmaking and use of AI.
The Weekender will close with the Scottish Premiere of Promised Sky (Promis le Ciel), the acclaimed drama by Tunisian director Erige Sehiri that opened this year’s Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. Promised Sky follows the intertwined fates of three women from sub-Saharan Africa living in Tunis and has drawn international praise for its humanistic storytelling and powerful portrayal of sisterhood and resilience.
The inaugural edition will also showcase a special Extended Reality (XR) exhibition, which will run alongside film screenings. The exhibition is supported by the British Council and The Africa Centre as part of the UK/Kenya Season, a cultural programme celebrating creativity and innovation in both countries. The XR exhibition will be free to access during the festival. It features the first Scottish presentation of two immersive works by Kenyan artists, namely:
- Enkang’ Ang’ – Created by Kenyan multimedia artist Naitiemu, Enkang’ Ang’ (meaning “Our Home” in Maasai) is an immersive VR experience that transports viewers into a traditional Maasai enkang’ (homestead). Through virtual reality and recorded conversations, Naitiemu’s project shares the rich indigenous Maasai culture with stories collected from women of the Twala Tenebo village. Enkang’Ang’ asks the poignant question, “How do we learn from our traditions and re-imagine our future?” Audiences will be able to virtually step inside a Maasai manyatta homestead, accompanied by video interviews with Maasai women elders sharing knowledge of their history, daily life and sustainable practices.
- ARGO– Developed by XR game designer Joanna Oluoch, in collaboration with Nairobi’s Fallohide Studio, ARGO is Africa’s first public environmental augmented reality game. This cutting-edge AR experience transports players into the heart of Nairobi’s Oloolua Forest, allowing them to explore its serene nature trails, encounter wildlife, and discover hidden gems like a 20-foot waterfall and historic caves. Using a tablet or phone based app, visitors of all ages can take a virtual “nature walk” through digital recreations of the forest, interact with its flora and fauna, and learn about conservation. ARGO was launched in Kenya earlier this year as an innovative way to connect young people with nature, and the Jali Film Weekender will host one of its first public exhibitions outside the African continent.
Founded earlier this year, Jali Collective is a new grassroots collective based in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the mission to widen access to African cinema and to celebrate and elevate Black, African, and diaspora stories through film and culture. The collective curates film screenings, festivals, workshops and related events that bring Black, African and diaspora cinema to audiences.
Jali Collective was founded by three core members – Tomiwa Folorunso, Isabel Moura Mendes and Carmen Thompson – each of whom are long-standing producers, programmers and cultural organisers with deep roots in the film, festival and arts sectors in Scotland and beyond.
“Our aim with Jali Collective and the Weekender is to create a welcoming space for community and conversation around Black, African and diaspora cinema,” say Tomiwa, Isabel and Carmen. “These first announcements give a sense of the vision we want to share moving forward. By bringing these incredible works to Edinburgh, we hope to inspire audiences – especially Black and African diaspora communities – and spark dialogues that resonate long after the Weekender.”
Jali Film Weekender 2025 is supported by Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery), as well as British Council, the Africa Centre and other partners.