African Titles Across the Locarno 2026 Selection

Locarno's 79th edition runs August 5 to 15, with 233 films from 69 countries and 103 world premieres. African production credits appear across seven sections.

Piazza Grande

• "Congo Boy" — Rafiki Fariala — Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy — Swiss premiere

Concorso Cineasti del Presente

• "Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come)" — Amartei Armar — Ghana, France — world premiere. Eligible for the Swatch First Feature Award and the Pardo for Change.

Fuori Concorso

• "Atcha Atcha" — Mamadou Dia — Senegal, France — world premiere. Eligible for the Pardo for Change.
• "BAKMA" — Abdelhamid Bouchnak — Tunisia — world premiere.

Pardi di Domani – Concorso Internazionale

• "Khufu" — Mahmoud Assi — Egypt, France, Sweden, Canada — world premiere.
• "NADUPA" — Daniel Samwel — Tanzania — world premiere.

Panorama Suisse

• "Memory of Princess Mumbi" — Damien Hauser — Switzerland, Kenya, Saudi Arabia.

Histoire(s) du Cinéma – Locarno Heritage

• "Kaddu Beykat (Letter from My Village)" — Safi Faye — Senegal — 1975.

Open Doors Screenings — Features

• "Barni" — Mohammed Sheikh — Somalia — 2025.
• "Catcher" — Derhwa Kasunzu — Burkina Faso, France, Democratic Republic of Congo — 2025.
• "Cotton Queen" — Suzannah Mirghani — Germany, France, Palestine, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan — 2025.
• "Crocodile" — The Critics, Pietra Brettkelly — New Zealand, Nigeria — 2026.
• "Diya" — Achille Ronaimou — Chad, Germany, France, Ivory Coast — 2025.
• "Katanga la danse des scorpions" — Dani Kouyaté — Burkina Faso — 2025.
• "La kora de mon père" — Ayeman Aymar Esse — Benin, Switzerland, Germany — world premiere.
• "O Profeta" — Ique Langa — Mozambique, Qatar, South Africa — 2026.

Open Doors Screenings — Shorts and Medium-Length

• "Concrete Moves" — Fagamou Fama Ndiaye — Senegal — 2025.
• "Goat" — Judy Kibinge — Kenya — 2025.
• "sKINs_Addis Abeba" — Rediet Haddis Yalew — Ethiopia — 2026.
• "Submergido" — Ariel Añez — Mozambique — 2025.
• "Time to Change" — Pocas Pascoal — Portugal, Angola — 2024.

African Film Press is an award partner of Locarno Open Doors 2026, presenting the AFP Critics Prize.