Five African Filmmakers to Track, Showcased at Locarno's Open Doors

Africa steps firmly over the threshold of Locarno’s 2025 Open Doors to deliver five singular short narratives that pull from social strife, ancestral lore and communal memory in a finely-curated program that centers the engaging, culturally rich narratives of the continent.

Taking such elaborate subject matter and masterfully condensing it into thoroughly refined snapshots, the directors firmly cement their skills at the sidebar — which marks its inaugural celebration of African features, producers and creatives after recently wrapping a three-year long focus on filmmakers from Latin America and the Caribbean. With a goal of boosting regions where financing and filmmaking is more challenged, Locarno’s Open Doors offers a significant platform and development program to attendees.

This year’s shorts also display a sense of broader cinematic appeal, from weighty social commentary in Absoulaye Sall’s “The Last Journey” and Yasir Faiz’s title “Bougainvillea” to Amina Abdoulaye Mamani’s bold and evocative powder-keg narrative of a young girl whose fate is decided for her in “The Envoy of God,” Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda’s tender, abstract ode to a past that shapes the present, “Where My Memory Began,” and Patience Nitumwesiga’s esoteric rumination, “Jangu.”

A drill-down on the lineup:

“The Last Journey” (“ Le Dernier Voyage,” Abdoulaye Sall, Mauritania, Senegal)

Snagging the jury prize at 2023’s Oujda International Film Festival, the short turns on Maodo — a young man returning home after a long absence. Disappearing after a day’s work as a street vendor, his family desperately searches for him. A loss of hope permeates the narrative, that portrays “a family torn between disillusionment and the longing for elsewhere. It’s a tribute to those who stay behind, and a cry from those who leave,” Sall explains. A poignant family drama that plumbs the precarious nature of securing a future, the film is produced by 5 Films Production and co-produced by Yennenga Production. Sales are handled by Wawkumba Films.

“Jangu” (Patience Nitumwesiga, Uganda)

After a traumatic encounter, two sisters commune with a local witch to banish men from their town for three hours. Longing to extend their fortune, they come to find that all the men have permanently disappeared — their souls harvested by mystic forces. “Through this film, we re-capture elements of African lore that have been erased from African films in the mainstream media such as genderless witches and non material realities,” the director tells Variety. Produced and sold by Stone Age Pictures and co-produced by Shagika, with support from the Karlsruhe Film Board, under the UNESCO Media City Underground Film Award.

“Where My Memory Began” (Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda, Sierra Leone)

“‘Where My Memory Began’ and that old 400-year-old tree represents the resilience of our spirits and celebrates those who were there before us. I am because of those who walked before me,” explains the director,. referring to 230-foot old Cotton Tree in Freetown, which collapsed in a 2023 storm, but had provided shade for formerly enslaved Black folks from the Americas, returning to Africa to fins freedom.

Soft, muted hues frame each shot in the film that pays homage to not only the sky-high cotton tree but the heritage and sacrifice gathered at its storied perimeter. The project is produced by Freetown’s House of Salone out of Sierra Leone.

“The Envoy of God” (“L’Envoyée de Dieu,” Amina Abdoulaye Mamani, Niger, Burkina Faso, Rwanda)

12-year-old Fatima reluctantly prepares to meet her fate as she’s forced to become a suicide bomber. The short delves into those moments leading up to her final act, all of the turmoil they entail — with glimpses of her brief joy-fuelled life woven between an emotive, dissociative tension. “This film is a way of paying tribute to all those girls who died in spite of themselves; it also shows that we can still refuse, say no,” the director shared in an interview with Souley Moutari of ONEP in February, 2023. Produced by Diam Production and co-produced by Tabous Production, Sudu Connexion handles world sales of the film.

“Bougainvillea” (Yasir Faiz, Egypt, Sudan)

Maneuvering a battle against deep oppression, the narrative follows six women amidst Sudan’s December 2018 revolution. Full of unfettered hope, an air of justice prevails. “Inspired by real interviews with former detainees, it explores their emotional resilience and the intense bonds formed in isolation. Set in a society where women’s voices are often suppressed, the film confronts themes of confinement, solidarity, and resistance,” Faiz explains. Produced by award-winning East African production house, In Deep Visions, with co-production credits to Sudan Film Factory, Shift Studios and Figleaf Sound Studios, world sales are handled by MAD Solutions. Faiz’s debut feature is set to shoot in Kenya in 2027, set during the final years of the Sudan-South Sudan civil war.