NBO Film Festival - IN NAIROBI

NBO Film festival

The Nairobi Film Festival (NBO Film Fest) was founded in 2016 as a platform to celebrate and showcase the best of local and international cinema for Nairobi’s growing community of film lovers. Created by a collective of filmmakers and cultural curators, the festival set out to bridge the gap between Kenyan audiences and the global film scene—spotlighting African storytelling, championing independent voices, and nurturing new talent.

Over the years, it has grown into one of East Africa’s most respected film events, known for its rich programming of feature films, documentaries, and shorts, as well as masterclasses, Q&As, and networking sessions with industry professionals. Screenings often take place across Nairobi’s key cultural venues, transforming the city into a hub of cinematic conversation and creativity.

Today, NBO Film Fest stands as a vital space for dialogue, discovery, and celebration of African cinema honouring Nairobi’s vibrant artistic energy and positioning it firmly on the global film map.

Download the Film Schedule below

THe showcase

the schedule:

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Amadou et Mariam – The Blind Couple from Mali

Ryan Marley’s documentary follows Amadou and Mariam as they travel between Paris, Spain, and Mali to record what would become their final album. The structure is familiar enough: archival footage, talking heads, performance sequences, the slow build toward a homecoming concert.
Playing at Unsene.en Nairobi through Ju

The Fisherman – iN REVIEW – Unseen Nairobi

Zoey Martinson’s award-winning Ghanaian comedy The Fisherman is screening through June at Unseen Nairobi. Our review of the talking fish film everyone’s loving. Tickets on Mookh.

Khartoum – Things We Carry (2025)

Things We Carry presents a fundraising screening of the award winning film KHARTOUM at the unique venue Sarakasi Dome @sarakasitrustofficial in Ngara.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with co-director Snoopy Ibrahim.

WIDOW CHAMPION – iN REVIEW

Zippy Kimundu’s award-winning documentary Widow Champion screens at Unseen Nairobi all May. A compelling, five-star story of land rights, resilience, and justice in rural Kenya.

Unseen in April – My Father’s Shadow

What unfolds is a tender, beautifully restrained meditation on family, memory, and the invisible threads that bind us, even when time and distance try to fray them.

NOW SCREENING, UNSEEN NAIROBI, APRIL

Khartoum (2025)

iN REVIEW – Khartoum is a 2025 Sudanese documentary directed collaboratively by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim “Snoopy” Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, and Phil Cox. It had its world premiere in the World Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025 and later screened at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), where it won the Peace Film Prize. February at Unseen Nairobi.

NBO Film Fest – My Father’s Shadow

What unfolds is a tender, beautifully restrained meditation on family, memory, and the invisible threads that bind us — even when time and distance try to fray them.

Reimagining Storytelling: Inside NBO Film Fest 2025

Our capital is restless, alive with the hum of traffic and chatter as dusk falls over Ngong Road. Outside Prestige Cinema, the line snakes down the block. Filmmakers, students, cinephiles, and curious onlookers clutch their tickets and phones, waiting to enter. For ten days this October, Nairobi belongs to the movies.

trailers

more about the festival

Celebrating African and African Diaspora cultures through film, industry engagement, and cultural exchange. It fosters a thriving film culture in Kenya by showcasing local and international cinema, supporting professional development, and connecting storytellers with audiences around the world.

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