AAIFF AFRICA 2025 IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Hold on tight, the countdown is almost over!
In just two days, the second edition of the All African Independent Film Festival will take over this Fall’s October 10th – 11th – 12th. For three days, we will celebrate the voices and visions of independent filmmakers from allover the African continent.

Accrochez-vous, le compte à rebours est presque terminé ! Dans deux jours seulement, la deuxième édition du Festival panafricain du film indépendant aura lieu cet automne, les 10, 11 et 12 octobre. Pendant trois jours, nous célébrerons les voix et les visions des cinéastes indépendants de tout le continent africain.

GET YOUR TICKETS AT THE VENUE: Institut français du Rwanda

 The second edition of the AAIFF Africa’s programme promises nothing less than intrigue, awe and inspiration. With 21 outstanding films competing for 16 awards across 8 categories, the festival will once again prove that African cinema is a form of creativity and storytelling that refuses to be overlooked.

This upcoming weekend, drama is taking the lead with 9 powerful features ranging anywhere from 3-minute gems to 80-minute epics, not a single eye will dare wander from the screen – so polish your glasses folks! Near or far, you won’t want to miss a second.

Because good things always come in threes, prepare to be dazzled by 3 animated films, 3 experimental works, and for anyone craving a bit of perspective—3 documentaries that bite hard into reality.

Excited yet? You should be. And trust us, that’s still not all.

Among the awards are Africa’s Best Independent Film Director, and the prestigious Africa’s Best Independent film 2025. This year’s jury will be chaired by none other than Nigerian filmmaker C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, whose film Mami Wata won Africa’s Best Independent Film at AAIFF Africa 2024, last year’s edition. He returns in 2025 as President of the Jury.

For this special edition of the AAIFF Africa’s, the office has been buzzing with energy as we finalize the preparations for the festival taking place next weekend in Kigali, Rwanda.

This year’s filmmaking department has been kept busy and caffeinated preparing the cinema trailers and the promotional films that follow AAIFF Africa’s screening session every year.

Our head of video production, Alix, has been working meticulously to perfect the apprehended AAIFF Africa’s 2025 Sizzle Reel, while our graphic designer, Şimal, has been finalizing the film catalogue and perfecting the posters for this year’s festival edition.

Countdown videos were made both for the upcoming festival in Kigali, but also for submissions for the Asian festival which officially closed this September! The Asian Film Festival is coming up on December 5th, 6th, and 7th — but who wants to wait that long? Join us for the official launch party on October 21st in Paris! 

Let’s not forget, our social media team which has been killing it out in the city these past few weeks, filming content for our socials in promotion of our ÉCU offices and the upcoming festival. They decided to hop on the trend ofThe Summer I Turned Pretty, filming a TikTok at La Gare du Nord of Paris on which Prime Video and the show’s official account commented. 

Our HR team – Divyansh, Jason, Katarina, and Jelena, has been making sure the lives of the interns are running smoothly as they prepare and organise AAIFF Africa’s 2025. While navigating the different departments and responsibilities, they’ve also been very busy selecting, interviewing and hiring new interns hoping to join the ÉCU team.

Our inestimable Events Department have laboured over the DCP’s and files of this year’s nominated films, processing them all in different versions to ready them for next week’s screenings! They’ve also been managing the relations with our filmmakers who, anxious to come to Paris and attend the festival, have only spread more excitement and anticipation of ÉCU 2025! 

Last but not least, the journalism team has been typing away to curate articles from interviews with the directors behind the pieces presented at this year’s AAIFF Africa’s edition. Stay tuned for our blog releases on the ÉCU website to check out the upcoming articles featuring these interviews!

With the festival just around the corner, there are many preparations that still wait to be done. Yet, our interns’ hard work has already shaped itself into the upcoming festival. We look forward to seeing how it is received by you!

Invitez vos proches à nous rejoindre les 10, 11 et 12 octobre à l’Institut français du Rwanda où nous présenterons 21 des meilleurs films indépendants contemporains d’Afrique, répartis en 8 catégories.

En plus des projections de films quotidiennes, les festivaliers auront accès à des ateliers de réalisation de films professionnels, à des séances de questions-réponses avec les réalisateurs et à une after-party juteuse chaque jour du festival – parfait pour ces séances de réseautage après les heures de bureau.

Launch Party of the 19th edition of ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival 

You are invited to our Launch Party on the 27th March 2024. We will be celebrating at the Black Sheep Coffee in Paris at 10 Rue La Boétie at 19:00, 75008 with Live Music. We will also be screening award-winning independant films. The party is an open invitation, so we are looking forward to seeing you there.

Vous êtes invités à notre soirée de lancement le 27 mars 2024. Nous ferons la fête au Black Sheep Coffee à Paris au 10 Rue La Boétie à 19:00, 75008 avec de la musique live. Nous projetterons également des films indépendants primés. La soirée est une invitation ouverte, nous sommes donc impatients de vous y voir.

In March, for our ÉCU FRIDAY LIVE we had the chance to speak with Abraham Herrera and Tessa Moult-Milewstra on the creation of stop-motion animation films. You can listen to this interview and other episodes of our podcast here.

En mars, pour notre ÉCU FRIDAY LIVE, nous avons eu la chance de nous entretenir avec Abraham Herrera et Tessa Moult-Milewstra sur la création de films d’animation en stop-motion. Vous pouvez écouter cette interview et d’autres épisodes de notre podcast ici.

ÉCU’s PARTNERS 

Nostos Screenwriting Retreats

ÉCU is excited to partner with Nostos Screenwriting Retreats, a three week intensive script development retreat located in Tuscany, which gives independent filmmakers from around the world the opportunity to work intensively on their feature-length narrative scripts or their TV Pilots in an environment structured to foster collaboration and high-quality script development.

L’ÉCU est heureuse de s’associer à Nostos Screenwriting Retreats, une retraite intensive de développement de scénario de trois semaines située en Toscane, qui donne aux cinéastes indépendants du monde entier la possibilité de travailler intensivement sur leurs scénarios narratifs de long métrage ou leurs pilotes télévisuels dans un environnement structuré pour favoriser la collaboration et le développement de scénarios de haute qualité.

The Kitchen tv

Special thanks go to The Kitchen, which provides language services to and from most major languages, and for all program formats and genres. The Kitchen has twice been recognized by the Television Academy for developing the only Emmy® Award-winning translation, dubbing and subtitling software, offering customers the most efficient language localization process every step of the way. In addition, the National Association of Broadcasters awarded the company the AIM award for its technology. Cuisine’s contribution is essential to the organization of the Festival.

Nous tenons à remercier tout particulièrement The Kitchen, qui fournit des services linguistiques, depuis et vers la plupart des langues principales, et pour tous les formats et genres de programmes. The Kitchen a été récompensée à deux reprises par la Television Academy pour avoir développé le seul logiciel de traduction, de doublage et de sous-titrage primé par un Emmy® Award, offrant ainsi à ses clients le processus de localisation linguistique le plus efficace à chaque étape du processus. En outre, la National Association of Broadcasters a décerné à la société le prix AIM pour sa technologie. La contribution de la Cuisine est essentielle à l’organisation du Festival.

O’CD

The Festival wouldn’t be the same without the support and generosity of O’CD  a French chain store specialized in the purchase, sale and exchange of CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY and VIDEO GAMES. For the past 30 years, O’CD has been built out of passion with people who see cultural sharing as the driving value of their enthusiasm. Its original concept makes O’CD a perennial and future-oriented band. References are constantly renewed through purchase, sale and exchange. During an age where downloading occupies an important place on the market, O’CD continues to grow thanks to its solid values, its team of enthusiasts, its expertise in the product and its spirit of recycling. 

Le Festival ne serait pas le même sans le soutien et la générosité de O’CD, une chaîne de magasins française spécialisée dans l’achat, la vente et l’échange de CD, DVD, BLU-RAY et JEUX VIDÉO. Depuis 30 ans, O’CD s’est construit par passion avec des personnes pour qui le partage culturel est la valeur motrice de leur enthousiasme. Son concept original fait d’O’CD un groupe pérenne et tourné vers l’avenir. Les références sont constamment renouvelées par l’achat, la vente et l’échange. A une époque où le téléchargement occupe une place importante sur le marché, O’CD continue de se développer grâce à ses valeurs sûres, son équipe de passionnés, son expertise du produit et son esprit de recyclage.

AAIFF AFRICA ARTICLES

Des Lycéens Rwandais Découvrent le Cinéma Indépendant Africain

Overview – This week, AAIFF Africa Chair Scott Hillier met with students from Greenhill Academy and École Française Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The workshop he led focused on film critique, guiding students to think critically about performances and the emotions they evoke. Through this experience, the students became an active part of the filmmaking conversation — learning how to evaluate films thoughtfully and even take part in the process of voting for and awarding a film.

The Art of Editing: A Conversation with Nathan Delannoy

By Natálie Dvořáková

Ever wondered what editing is really all about? Now’s your chance to hear it straight from the editing room: meet editor Nathan Delannoy, the steady hand that shaped Mami Wata, winner of the 2024 Best Independent Film. In an exclusive interview, our intern Natálie Dvořáková uncovers the tricks, challenges and invisible magic of editing, so you can see what it truly takes to slice a story into perfection.

Conversation With C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi: Turning Dreams into Frames

By Natálie Dvořáková

C.J. ´Fieri´ Obasi, the director of Africa’s Best Independent Film and this year’s President of Jury definitely has something to say. We listened. You should too.

Events in Paris

Lost in Frenchlation

Are you in Paris, and love watching French films, but you wish they had subtitles? Lost in Frenchlation is the solution to your problems! Screening French films with English subtitles, accompanied by a surprise event each time. Q&A’s, cocktails, meet and greets and more. Check out the March programme above and find more information on their website. 

Vous êtes à Paris et vous aimez regarder des films français, mais vous aimeriez qu’ils soient sous-titrés ? Lost in Frenchlation est la solution à vos problèmes ! Des projections de films français sous-titrés en anglais, accompagnées d’un événement surprise à chaque fois. Des questions-réponses, des cocktails, des rencontres et bien plus encore. Consultez le programme du mois de mars ci-dessus et trouvez plus d’informations sur leur site web. 

After Work du Cinéma Indépendent

Several independent directors present their projects, each giving a presentation of what it took to make it a reality. After all the trailers, pilots and short films have been screened, there is a celebration with drinks where conversations can continue between all the filmmakers and film enthusiasts in the audience.

Plusieurs réalisateurs indépendants présentent leurs projets, chacun expliquant ce qu’il a fallu faire pour les concrétiser. Après la projection de toutes les bandes-annonces, des pilotes et des courts-métrages, une célébration est organisée autour d’un verre, où les conversations se poursuivent entre tous les cinéastes et les cinéphiles présents dans le public.

Date: March 31, 2024, 8:00-11:00pm

Location: The Wooden Sword, 100 Rue Mouffetard 
75005 Paris

Tickets 8 €

Let’s Stay in Touch

For now, that’s all we have prepared for you! As always, stay up to date with ÉCU news on Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok, and Instagram. Check out our website and follow us on Substack to keep up with our latest articles and monthly newsletters.

Do not forget to send us your masterpiece! If you would like to reach out to us, regarding any questions or inquiring about internship opportunities, you can contact us through email at info@ecufilmfestival.com. Stay creative, inspired, and most importantly: stay indie.

Yours truly,

The ÉCU Team

C’est tout ce que nous avons préparé pour vous ! Comme toujours, restez au courant des actualités d’ÉCU sur Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok et Instagram. Consultez notre site web et suivez-nous sur Substack pour rester informé de nos derniers articles et newsletters mensuelles.

N’oubliez pas de nous envoyer vos chefs-d’œuvre ! Si vous souhaitez nous contacter pour toute question ou pour vous renseigner sur les possibilités de stage, vous pouvez nous envoyer un e-mail à l’adresse info@ecufilmfestival.com.

Restez créatifs, inspirés et, surtout, restez indépendants.

Bien à vous,

L’équipe d’ÉCU

Written by Soraya Keïta and Nina Sunko