Popular avenues to experience African cinema include film festivals, satellite TV, and local streaming platforms. This overview draws on insights shared with Socialbites.ca through Kinopoisk’s press service, referencing a social anthropologist, a scholar of African culture, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the State Agrarian University.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of cinemas per person remains low compared with global standards. UNESCO’s 2023 assessment lists only 1,653 active cinemas on the continent, a figure that encompasses both coastal economies and the inland regions.
Experts point to a combination of marketing shortfalls and a film repertoire that has historically leaned toward Hollywood action titles, Indian melodramas, and Western animation. These choices did not fully satisfy local audiences, even as some Western titles found immense success in African distribution when they touched on themes or settings connected to the continent.
Further contributing to the picture is a perceived gap in sustained demand and cultural immersion in cinema. Nevertheless, engaged audiences rely on three core channels: film festivals, streaming services, and satellite television.
Within the African market, Showmax serves South Africa, while IrokoTv, a Nigerian platform, continues to specialize in Nollywood offerings, broadening access for regional viewers.
Among the major festivals, FESPACO in Ouagadougou has held a central place for more than five decades, taking place biennially and drawing filmmakers, critics, and enthusiasts from across the continent and beyond.
Other prominent events include the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa and the Zanzibar Film Festival in Tanzania. These gatherings are not only African in focus but also mark a prominent stage for local productions to compete on an international level and win prestigious awards. AFRIFF in Lagos stands out as a festival that showcases African cinema in its most authentic form, offering a platform for storytelling that resonates deeply with audiences across the region.
There is also a note of historical nuance, such as past costume and cultural displays in Burkina Faso, which help illuminate how cinema and traditional attire intersect in certain national contexts. The evolving landscape of African cinema continues to be shaped by both regional platforms and global attention, with ongoing discussions about access, distribution, and the ways local tastes influence programming choices across the continent.