The Festival Internacional de Cine Africano en Argentina (FICAA) is presenting more than 25 films from 20 countries in Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area during its 2026 edition, running from 18 to 30 August.
Organized by Observatorio Sur, a Buenos Aires-based platform for research, programming, archiving and circulation of African and Afro-descendant cinema, FICAA has roots in African film programming that the organization began in Argentina in 2007. This year’s programme combines competitive and non-competitive fiction, documentary, experimental work, new releases and African cinema classics.
Feature competition selections include Dani Kouyaté’s Burkinabè drama "Katanga, la danse des scorpions," Babatunde Apalowo’s Nigerian feature "All the Colours in the World Are Between Black and White," Morad Mostafa’s Egyptian film "Aisha Can’t Fly Away," Alain Kassanda’s Nigerian documentary "Coconut Head Generation" and David Bingong’s Cameroon-Spain documentary "Les Voyageurs."
The short-film programme includes Welket Bungué’s seven-minute Guinea-Bissau/Portugal film "Piroceno (Pyrocene)," Yazid Yettou’s Algerian "Collateral!," Paulo Idalécio’s Angolan "Sabe Quem Eu Sou?," Amina Awa Niang’s Senegalese "Retour au Cinema Vox" and Kiswendsida Parfait Kaboré’s Burkinabè "À Vos Mots, Mon Âme Danse."
"Piroceno," one of three films in FICAA’s experimental/documentary short competition, is set in 2126 after an ecological collapse and takes its title from environmental historian Stephen Pyne’s concept of the Pyrocene, an age increasingly shaped by humanity’s use of fire. Bungué filmed material for the short with an iPhone 13 during a 2025 trip to Guinea-Bissau, including images from Bubaque in the Bijagós Archipelago and the Bandim neighborhood of Bissau.
A 26-second teaser shared by Bungué places that material within the film’s imagined future. Its narration describes the poorest families being forced to migrate elsewhere in Africa as the ground burns across the archipelago: “Our days were numbered. But the soul of Princess Okinka had a lesson for us.” Bungué identifies the invocation of Princess Okinka, the historic Bijagó matriarch, as a central element of the film and a counterpoint to the ecological catastrophe imagined in its story. "Piroceno" screens at Sala Lúcida in Buenos Aires on 30 August at 4 p.m.
FICAA is also presenting repertory films including Flora Gomes’ Guinea-Bissau musical "Nha Fala" and Ousmane Sembène’s Senegalese classic "Le Mandat." The festival’s 2026 awards are scheduled to be announced on 29 August, with winning films screening again on 30 August.