Kigali, Rwanda – 11^th October 2025

We’re meeting you halfway through the second day of the second edition of the All African Independent Film Festival!
We’re following the events live and bringing them straight to your living rooms, making sure you don’t miss a thing we know you’d hate to miss.

Everyone knows a good wine should breathe before you drink it. The same goes for festivals. You shouldn’t rush straight into the main act, give people a moment to prepare for that big gulp. In that spirit, the AAIFF Africa team prepared another workshop for our guests, this time with a different focus: cinematography.
Designed to sharpen the directing skills and festival management know-how of young, aspiring cinephiles, the 2 hour long workshop was led by none other than the president of the festival himself; Scott Hillier.

After a good half hour of creative ferment, silence was finally broken with our first screening from the student corner:

• So Called Friend, a tense piece about a best friend’s murder and a main character caught as the prime suspect.

And as with any fine menu, after the appetizer comes the main course.
A little before 5 PM, we dove into the next films from the AAIFF Africa 2025 Official Selection:

• The Invisible Monster, an experimental work exploring inner and outer conflicts, laying bare the raw emotions of the COVID era and the powerful protests following George Floyd’s death.

• Back to the Theater Vox, a dramatic short about two families divided by conflict and two boys fighting to keep their friendship alive. How far will they go to help their grandfathers reconcile and save their bond?

• Sarah, Sarah loves her school, but the pressures of traditional Maasai culture and a long drought are about to turn her life upside down. When a generous dowry offer arrives, her family must decide: accept it — and the traditional circumcision (FGM/C) it entails — or risk losing a rare chance to rebuild their wealth.

With emotions still running high, we took a breather to cleanse our palette with some of our favorite On-The-Road submissions from previous years, a taste of global cinema through our sister festivals.

• Horangi, an animated film from AAIFF Asia, inspired by a dream in which the narrator finds himself in a field of tigers. The story captures the delicate balance between fear and admiration, and explores what these two creatures might have in common.

• Holy Heavêness, another animated gem directly from ÉCU Film Festival, reflecting on the unbearable weight of loss. Sometimes, the grief that follows the death of loved ones grows so heavy that only the birth of something new can release it.

• The Indulgent — a gripping dramatic short from AAIFF Americas´ that wrapped up the series with intensity and heart.

But that wasn’t the end, we continued strong with three final films that beautifully sealed Day 2 of the screenings:

• Aicha, a raw, emotionally charged short from Morocco, exposing the harsh realities faced by girls and women across the country.

• The Will Beneath, a bold student piece reimagining African history. Naomi, long oppressed by Cecil Rhodes’ cruelty, hides a quiet plan for revenge. Turning his own excess into her weapon, she joins another woman trapped in his grasp to orchestrate his fall and reclaim their stolen power.

• Voice of the Arena, an experimental film set in the urban jungle of Casablanca, where young Leila fights to make her voice heard. As the first woman to lead a football supporters’ club in a world ruled by men, her story is one of courage, passion, and defiance.

After this intense and deeply human lineup, we brought you something a bit more personal; a glimpse into the mind of one of Africa’s standout filmmakers: Mélanie Zawadi, the Rwandan director behind Kieupe, screened on Day 1. The film, exploring the fragility of peace amid patches of war, sparked curiosity and emotion — so, naturally, we went straight to the source.

“Kieupe is about finding peace in the worst situations, it is a film stripped of any politics. People caught in war, my people, all that they truly want is peace,” Mélanie shared.

Intrigued by the film’s personification of peace as a living being, we asked how that idea was born.

“I had a thought, what if peace could take human form? How would that person behave in times of war? And most importantly; how would they care for those around them in such a situation?”

And with that thought, we wrapped up Day 2’s screenings — but, of course, the night didn’t end there.
The evening flowed into a lively Director’s Q&A, followed by a bustling afterparty where guests discussed films, exchanged ideas, congratulated directors, and danced the night away — getting ready to dive headfirst into Day 3 of AAIFF Africa!