Portal:African cinema/Selected anniversaries/7

The 31st edition of the New York African Film Festival is being held from the 8th to 30th of May. The festival,co-presented with Film Society of Lincoln Center, has introduced African filmmakers such as Abderrahmane Sissako, Lupita Nyong’o and Tunde Kelani to American audiences. Films set to screen this year include Banel and Adama (2023) by Ramata Toulaye-Sy, Xale (2022) by Moussa Sene Absa and Le Spectre de Boko Haram (2023) by Cyrielle Raingou.

The 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, considered one of the film industry’s biggest award shows on the continent, took place on May 11th. In a departure from past editions, performance categories like Best Actor and Best Actress Awards were determined by a jury instead of an audience voting system. Among the notable winners this year includes Breath of Life for best film, best director (BB Sasore), best lead actor (Wale Ojo), best supporting actress (Genoveva Umeh) and best supporting actor (Demola Adedoyin)

Seven films from African filmmakers were selected to screen at the 77th edition of the Cannes Festival taking place May 14-25. These include works by Somalian-born Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise), Egyptian filmmakers Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir (The Brink of Dreams), French-Moroccan screenwriter, director, and producer, Hamich Benlarbi (La Mer Au Loin/ Across the Sea), French-Algerian filmmaker Emma Benestan (Animale), Zambian-Welsh director and screenwriter Rungano Nyoni (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl), Egyptian artist and film director Hala Elkoussy (East Noon), and Franco-Moroccan director, Nabil Ayouch (Everybody Loves Touda).

This Year’s Cannes Film Festival includes a number of African Jury Members for its various sections:French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré (Un Certain Regard), Moroccan filmmaker and producer Asmae El Moudir (Un Certain Regard), Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal (Cinéfondation and Short Films Competition), Belgian-Congolese singer and filmmaker Baloj i (Caméra d'Or), Dyana Gaye, French-Senegalese filmmaker (L'Œil d'Or), and Eliane Umuhire,Rwandan actress (Critics’ Week),

The biopic of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters and starring Joke Silva, Kehinde Bankole, and is set to premiere in Nigerian cinemas nationwide on May 17. The film chronicles the life of the Nigerian educator, political campaigner, suffragist, and women's rights activist and the mother of the Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti.