African Films Nominated for the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival announced the selections for this year’s event. So far, five African films have been listed. Here’s a deep look into the five African films selected for the Cannes Film Festival.
Mo Harawe
Muhamed Harawe (Mo. Harawe) was born in Mogadishu. He studied at an art school in Somalia, but his filmmaking journey began in Austria. He’s a screenwriter and has written several scripts for feature films like “To Mogadishu”.
The Village Next to Paradise is his first feature film and was selected in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival 2024.
The film captures a portrait of family life in a Somalian desert village. It tells the story of a single father, his sister, and his son Cigaal, as they navigate the complexities of life.
Harawe says, “The film serves as a metaphor for a country that holds the potential for paradise, were it not for the circumstances that make such a reality impossible.”
His other works include:
1. Life on the Horn
2. Will My Parents Come to See Me
3. The story of the polar bear that wanted to go to Africa
Rungano Nyoni
Nyoni is a Zambian-Welsh actress, director and screenwriter. She’s an alumnus of the University of the Arts of London. In 2009, she made her directorial debut with the film 20 Questions and The List, which won a BAFTA Cymru Award. She followed this up with Mwansa the Great (2011), nominated at the BAFTA.
Some of her written work includes The Mass of Men, and Golden Leopard which made it at Locarno in 2012. In 2014, her film Listen received the Best Narrative Short Award at the Tribeca Festival. Her film I’m Not a Witch premiered at Cannes and received critical acclaim for its boldness in calling out societal rules and norms.
Nyoni’s film On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is nominated for the Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Raoul Peck
Haitian-born Raoul Peck grew up in four countries: Congo, France, Germany and the United States. Before he went to film school, at the Academy of Film and Television in Berlin (DFFB), he graduated with an Advanced Degree in Engineering Economics in Germany.
Some of Peck’s work includes Profit and Nothing but! (2000), The Villemin Case (2006) and The School of Power (2008). In 2009, he presented The Man by the Shore (Cannes 1993); Lumumba (Director’s Fortnight 2000); and Sometimes in April (2005) on the genocide in Rwanda (Berlinale), in Toronto and Berlin.
Raoul Peck is the recipient of the Irene Diamond Award (Human Rights Watch 2001) for all his work. He is, since January 2010, Chairman of the Board of the film school La Fémis.
His film Ernest Cole, Lost And Found is a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nabil Ayouch
French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch will screen his film Everybody Loves Touda under the Cannes Premier category. The story of a young singer and poet named Shaeirat, who raised her deaf-mute son in a small village.
While she performs in bars under the gaze of men, Shaeirat plans to head to Casablanca to gain fame, better opportunities and a more secure future for her son. Moving doesn’t do away with the difficulties in Casablanca and she has to find a way of going past these troubles.
This isn’t the first time Ayouch is presenting in Cannes. In 2021, he was nominated in the most prestigious category, the Palme d’Or for his film “Casablanca Beats,”.
Boris Lojkine
Boris Lojkine returns to Cannes with his film ‘L’Histoire de Souleymane’, which will be competing in the Un Certain Regard category.
The film revolves around Souleymane, a Guinean bicycle delivery man who has a make-or-break asylum interview.
“Souleymane is a character who embodies all the people we see on the streets of Paris, Lyon and all over the world. These people on bicycles deliver meals from the big chains to people who order them.
“We know how these orders arrive, but here, it’s the point of departure that is filmed; these people on bikes are generally migrants who want to settle in France to try and get papers,” explained Thierry Frémaux at the festival press conference.
The director’s first fiction film, Hope won the 2014 SACD prize. His other works include Camile.
Summary of the nominations
Un Certain Regard
1. The Village Next To Paradise Mo Harawe (Somali)
2. L’Histoire De Souleymane Boris Lojkine (Guinea, France)
3. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl Rungano Nyoni (Zambia)
Cannes Premier
1. Everybody Loves Touda Nabil Ayouch (Morocco)
Special Screenings
1. Ernest Cole, Lost And Found Raoul Peck (South Africa, Haiti)
