Africa Spotlight

Africa Spotlight

Discover stories from across the African continent that capture wisdom, resilience, creativity and beauty that remind us of our common humanity.

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Africa Spotlight
  • Radio Dadaab

    Dadaab, the world’s second largest refugee camp, faces a new influx of refugees. Fardowsa, a stateless journalist born and raised in the camp, becomes a voice for the voiceless through the camp’s radio station, amplifying stories of climate, migration, and hope.

    Director and Producer: Environmen...

  • Ifine (Beauty)

    Set in the Kono district of Sierra Leone, this documentary film captures the beauty of blackness through the lens of the youth coming of age amid a skin-bleaching epidemic.

    Director: Adisa Septuri, Ebony Gilbert
    Producer: Adisa Septuri, Ebony Gilbert

    2022 | 30 min

    Sierra Leone

    Languages: Sier...

  • The Church Forests of Ethiopia

    Over the past century, nearly all of Ethiopia’s native forests have been cleared for farming and grazing. Now it is up to the Orthodox Churches—who for centuries have safeguarded pockets of primary forest that grow around them—to preserve Ethiopia’s quickly shrinking biodiversity and teach people...

  • Utapata Mwingine (You Will Get Another One) *Viewer Discretion Advised*

    [Trigger Warning] Utapata Mwingine (You Will Get Another One) is a documentary about the impact of stigma and silence surrounding Pregnancy and Infant Child Loss (PAIL) in Kenya. The film follows the founder of Empower Mama, Vivian Gaiko, a young Kenyan woman who lost her two-week old daughter af...

  • Big Dreams: A Tale of Resilience

    This story follows the life of Jerry, an innovative young Nigerian son of a farmers who strives to achieve his dream of building a fast car. A dream his parents saw as a waste of time, to achieve his dream He started to fabricate farm machines for his father and farmers in his community as he con...

  • UNESCO We Teach Here, Uganda

    This video shows the experiences of local Ugandan and refugee teachers in a refugee camp in Uganda through professionally filmed footage and user-generated content where the teachers film their daily experiences themselves, allowing the viewer to share their daily experiences up close. Dedicated ...

  • The Sound Barrier

    A mosquito-repellent soap that prevents malaria, straw bricks made out of agricultural residues for more sustainable housing, a biodigester made out of recycled plastic to create bio-gas for rural populations. The film follows 3 innovative social business ideas from students in Africa to take on ...

  • The Silicon Valley of Africa

    Rwanda experienced a violent civil war between its two main ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, that killed around 1 million citizens in 1994. Militant Hutu left the country in a state of poverty after using machetes to maim, rape, and murder civilians. Twenty years later, survivors of the gen...

  • Permanent Culture

    Permanent Culture documents the journey of Joseph, a man who once worked in exploitative sugarcane fields but then found work at Palos Farm. At this permaculture farm, Joseph has not only found more fulfilling work, but also acquired leadership and ecological knowledge that allows him to now be a...

  • Nobody Dies Here *Viewer Discretion Advised*

    [Trigger Warning] Perma gold mine, Benin. Some dream to find something, others realized there was nothing to be found. Some dig relentlessly hoping to become rich, others died in the process. And a few of them say that here, nobody dies.

    Director & Producer: Simon Panay
    2016 | 24 Min
    Benin
    Langu...

  • Megolonyo: With a Mother You Are Rich

    Set in a rural village in Northern Uganda, this short-doc tells the story of a Women's Empowerment Group started by female survivors of the Northern Ugandan War in search of rehabilitation, economic stability, and emotional support.

    Director & Producer: Justice Nnanna
    15 min | Uganda, USA
    Langua...

  • Kayayo, The Living Shopping Baskets

    Kayayo means “girl-carrier” in the Ga language.
    In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets - called Kayayo. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a...

  • Girls Like Us

    In Tanzania, women are expected to stay home, cook, clean, and take care of the children while their husbands are away at work. Like a typical teenager, Winnie needed an outlet for her curious mind and in 2013, she joined Apps & Girls, an organization that teaches young girls how to code their ow...

  • From The Same Soil

    The film portrays the lives of two gay men and one transgender woman who left their home countries because of discrimination and persecution. Now in South Africa they applied for refugee status on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite the fact that in South Africa both national law...

  • Enemies To Allies

    Sometimes, innovative solutions to social challenges are born in the most unlikely places. In Kisumu, Kenya a surprising approach to HIV prevention relies on building bonds two unlikely groups: police officers and sex workers. In Kisumu, extortion and abuse were commonplace, and sex workers’ righ...

  • Art For Peace

    The world’s youngest county, South Sudan, plunged into civil war just two years after being formed. Can it actually be poetry, film and music that will end the cyclical violence in this part of east Africa? Meet the brave young people turning their backs on hatred – are they the ones to truly for...

  • Anthropocene: Dandora (VR/360)

    The Dandora Landfill is the largest of its kind in Kenya. It receives industrial, agricultural, commercial and medical waste, amounting to about 2,000 tonnes per day. It is estimated that more than a million people live in the vicinity of the landfill. Residents work informally, sorting scrap by ...

  • A Way Forward

    Many in the U.S. take the bicycle for granted. Not so for students like Diana and Angela in Kakamega, Kenya. These brave young women used to have to walk hours to and from school, dodging the predatory advances of motorcycle taxi drivers, and often arriving exhausted and terrified of the return j...