The NBO Film Festival will bring films from Kenya and across the world to Nairobi from October 15 to 25, with screenings scheduled at Prestige Cinemas, Unseen Nairobi and Alliance Française.
Organisers announced on Tuesday that the Kaloleni Social Hall would no longer host festival screenings, with most moving to Alliance Française.
The 11-day festival will feature Kenyan productions including “Kikuyu Land”, “One Woman One Bra”, “Cards On The Table” and “Kamirithu Afterlives”, alongside international films from Africa.
The programme also includes three short-film blocks showcasing emerging and established filmmakers, as well as a family screening programme.
The festival opens on Thursday, October 15, and concludes with a closing ceremony on Sunday, October 25.
Films and timings
The festival opens at Prestige Cinemas on Thursday, October 15, with an opening ceremony at 5pm, followed by “Ben’Imana”, directed by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo of Rwanda, at 7pm.
On Friday, October 16, Prestige Cinemas will screen “Black Zombie”, directed by Maya Annik Bedward of Haiti, at 4 pm, followed by Kenyan film “One Woman One Bra”, directed by Vincho Nchogu, at 7 pm. “Ben’Imana” will also screen at Unseen Nairobi at 7 pm.
Saturday, October 17, features the first short-film block at Prestige Cinemas at 2 pm, comprising “Tracks” by Hussein Kurji, “10 Toes Down” by Ian Gituku, “Wa Kimani” by Karanja Ngendo, “Mr Rogers” by Daniel Aigbokhaivbo Ehimen, “Totally Torie” by Caroline Josey Karoki, and “One Last Order” by Sam Soko and Lauren DeFilippo.
The Brazilian film “If I Were Alive”, directed by André Novais Oliveira, screens at Prestige Cinemas at 5 pm.
At Unseen Nairobi, “Shorts Block Three” begins at 2.30 pm, featuring the following:
- The Big Sad Nairobi
- Prayer
- Window Shot
- AAHI
- The Invitation
- Misunderstanding
- The Break-In
- The Fortunate.
“One Woman One Bra” screens there at 5.30 pm, while “The Woman Who Poked The Leopard”, directed by Uganda’s Patience Nitumwesiga, screens at Alliance Française at 6 pm.
On Sunday, October 18, Prestige Cinemas will screen “Life After Siham” at noon, “My Father and Qaddafi” at 3 pm, Kenyan documentary “Kikuyu Land” by Bea Wangondu and Andrew H. Brown at 6 pm, and “Lady” by Nigerian filmmaker Nwosu at 8.30 pm.
READ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BEA WANGONDU
Unseen Nairobi will host a family block at 10 am featuring “Liyana” by Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp, and “Stero” by Tevin Kimathi.
Shorts Block Two screens at 2 pm, featuring 4 films, followed by the South African film “And She Didn’t Die” at 5.30 pm and “The Heart Is a Muscle” by Imran Hamdulay at 8.30 pm.
At Alliance Française, “Rumba Royale”, directed by Hamed Mobasser and Yohane Dean Lengol of the Democratic Republic of Congo, screens at 6 pm.
Weekday screenings
Monday, October 19, brings Kenyan film “Kati Kati”, listed as Lunchbox in the programme, at Prestige Cinemas at 3 pm, followed by South African film “Notes from the Underground” at 7 pm.
Unseen Nairobi will screen Shorts Block One at 5 pm featuring six films and “Black Zombie” at 7 pm.
At Alliance Française, “L’AFrance”, directed by Alain Gomis of France, screens at 6 pm.
On Tuesday, October 20, the programme lists “Vuta N’kuvute”, directed by Amil Shivji of Tanzania, alongside the 1pm Lunchbox listing at Prestige Cinemas.
Shorts Block Two screens at 4 pm, including “Goat” by Judith Nini Kibinge, “Souls of Fouta” by Alpha Diallo, “Mwakenya” by Musila Munuve, “God Sleeps On Sundays” by Naishe Nyamubaya, and “An Open Field” by Teboho Edkins.
South African film “Laundry (Uhlanjululo)” by Zamo Mkhwanazi screens at 7 pm.
At Unseen Nairobi, “Rumba Royale” screens at 3 pm, “Life After Siham” at 5.30 pm and “My Father and Qaddafi” at 7.30 pm.
Wednesday, October 21, features Senegalese classic “Camp de Thiaroye”, directed by Ousmane Sembène, at Prestige Cinemas at 3 pm, followed by Kenyan film “Cards On The Table”, directed by Victor Gatonye, at 7 pm.
At Unseen Nairobi, “Notes from the Underground” screens at 5 pm, followed by Canadian film “True North”, directed by Michèle Stephenson, at 7 pm.
“Félicité”, directed by Alain Gomis of the DRC, screens at Alliance Française at 6 pm.
On Thursday, October 22, Prestige Cinemas will screen Nigerian film “Crocodile”, directed by The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly, at 3 pm, followed by Kenyan documentary “Kamirithu Afterlives” by Alexandria Majalla, Kenny Cupers and Makau Kitata at 7 pm.
Unseen Nairobi will screen “Death Has No Master”, directed by Jorge Thielen Armand of Venezuela, at 5 pm and “The Woman Who Poked The Leopard” at 7 pm while “Tey”, directed by Alain Gomis of Senegal, screens at Alliance Française at 6 pm.
Final weekend
On Friday, October 23, Prestige Cinemas will screen Nigerian film “My Father’s Shadow”, directed by Akinola Davies Jr., at 3 pm, followed by Sudanese film “Cotton Queen”, directed by Suzannah Mirghani, at 8.30 pm.
“Kikuyu Land” screens at Unseen Nairobi at 7 pm, while “Andalucia”, directed by Alain Gomis and listed as a Kenyan production in the programme, screens at Alliance Française at 6 pm.
Saturday, October 24, opens at Prestige Cinemas with “And She Didn’t Die” at 12.30 pm.
Shorts Block Three screens at 3 pm featuring eight shorts, followed by “The Heart Is a Muscle” at 6 pm, South African film “Carissa” by Devon Delmar and Jason Jacobs at 8 pm, and “Death Has No Master” at 10 pm.
At Unseen Nairobi, “Kamirithu Afterlives” screens at 4 pm, “Cards On The Table” at 6 pm, and “If I Were Alive” at 8 pm.
Alliance Française will screen “Rewind and Play”, directed by Alain Gomis of France, at 6 pm.
The festival’s final day, Sunday, October 25, features Canadian documentary “True North” at Prestige Cinemas at 3 pm.
Unseen Nairobi will host a family block at 10 am featuring “Baada ya Masika” by Damien Hauser and “Vanille’ by Guillaume Lorin, followed by “Carissa” at 3 pm. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 7 pm.
The festival programme brings together feature films, documentaries, short films and family-friendly productions under the theme ‘Cinema for Us.’
