Compiled by Shaibu Husseini

AFRIFF Names Jury For 2026 Edition
The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) announces the international jury for its 15th edition holding from November 1 to 7, 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria, under the theme Frames of the Future: Africa’s Creative Intelligence. Bringing together filmmakers, producers, critics, researchers, performers and entertainment strategists, the jury offers a wide range of perspectives on narrative craft, artistic originality, cultural authenticity and the international reach of African storytelling. Zimbabwean-born film curator and programmer Keith Shiri joins AFRIFF as Festival Programmer and Jury Coordinator. His experience includes the London African Film Festival, programme advisory work for the BFI London Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, and service on international festival juries. Joining Shiri are Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Fibby Kioria, Blessing Uzzi, Jerry Chiemeke, Michel Tabet, Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri, Femi Elufowoju Jr. OBE, Dr Ahmed Al Othman and Jemilah Alghali. Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri is Founder and Group CEO of Known Associates Group and Chairperson of the Independent Producers’ Organisation. Her credits include uBettina Wethu, Wild Is the Wind and The Umbrella Men, alongside production executive work on Beast and The Woman King. Blessing Uzzi is Founder of Bluhouse Studios and filmmaker behind Freedom Way, which premiered at Toronto in 2024, won the AFRIFF Jury Prize and received Best Movie and Best Writing at the 2025 AMVCA. She also produced and served as showrunner of the Zikoko Life Series. Dr Ahmed Al Othman is an AFRIFF 2025 jury alumnus and member of the Oman Film Society, supporting international relations and cultural exchange. He champions opportunities connecting Omani filmmakers with the global film community. Jean-Pierre Bekolo is Internationally recognised for Quartier Mozart and Les Saignantes, He has taught at Duke University and was a Harvard McMillan-Stewart Fellow in 2024. The other jurors on this diet of AFRIFF are Fibby Kioria, founder of Mucii Pictures and former Program Director of Mira Nair’s Maisha Film Lab, Jerry Chiemeke, a Berlinale Talents and Talents Durban alumnus, Michel Tabet is affiliated with CNRS and the French Institute for the Near East, Femi Elufowoju Jr. OBE is Founder of Tiata Fahodzi, and Jemilah Alghali is BET Media Group executive.

Berlinale Retrospective Marks Anniversary
FOR the 100th anniversary of Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking film Metropolis, the Retrospective of the 77th Berlin International Film Festival will be dedicated to cinematic visions of the future and of rebellion. The film dystopias hover between post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, and political allegory, creating alternate worlds in which freedom, identity, and self-determination are subject to re-negotiation. The Retrospective films spin that subject matter across a range of focal points – urbanism, artificial intelligence, feminism, and capitalism – much like the Deutsche Kinemathek exhibition “The Metropolis Century – Dystopia and Rebellion” (March 18 through September 26, 2027). The Berlinale programme includes American blockbusters like Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop (1987) in addition to underground films such as Decoder (1984, dir: Muscha) and anime like Metoroporisu (2001, dir: Rintaro). Germany’s film legacy is represented with The Last Days of Gomorrah (1974) by Helma Sanders-Brahms, alongside international films that focus on viewpoints from society’s margins. One of those is Ngozi Onwurah’s Welcome II the Terrordome (1995), the first feature length British film directed by a Black woman, which the Retrospective is screening in a new restoration. Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle: “The Deutsche Kinemathek has long been an excellent partner for the Berlinale’s archive programming, and we’re really looking forward to this second Retrospective under artistic director Heleen Gerritsen’’. Rebellion is the leitmotif in all the films: the struggle against machines, systems, and artificial intelligence; the feminist revolt against patriarchal power structures, opposition by individuals and oppressed groups to the state, ideology, and social control. Heleen Gerritsen, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek and head of the Retrospective and Berlinale Classics sections, says, “One hundred years after Metropolis, the focus is on directors who created their own worlds and visions of the future. The aesthetic spectrum is broad, ranging from big-budget mainstream movies to underground films.” The Retrospective will present some 20 films, the complete run-down will be published in December 2026.

Tokyo International Film Festival To Host Academy Officials
THE 39th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), to be held from October 26 through November 4, during the week announced that it will present Academy in Tokyo, a special programme welcoming top executives from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation behind the Oscars®. Academy CEO Bill Kramer, President Lynette Howell Taylor, and Chief Membership, Impact and Industry Officer Meredith Shea will visit Japan for the occasion. On October 28, the three will participate in a panel discussion, followed by the presentation of a leadership award to Kramer and a gathering for Academy members. On October 29, Kramer will participate in a conversation with Hiro Matsuoka, President and CEO of Toho Co., Ltd., a leading figure in the Japanese film industry. This panel will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Oscars as well as insights into the Academy’s global initiatives and membership programmes. The discussion will also explore the Academy’s perspective on the current state and future of international cinema. Following the panel discussion on October 28, Bill Kramer, making his first visit to Asia, will receive the Global Cinema Leadership Special Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the development of the global film industry and the advancement of film culture.