Where’s the Money? Where’s the Accountability? Kenya’s Creative Economy and the Performance of Progress We take a close look at the creative economy’s budget allocation and expenditure. Read more below. sinemafocus.com/kenyas-creat…

From ‘Single Kiasi’ to ‘Bridgerton’ and Almost Joining ‘House of the Dragon’, Lenana Kariba’s Greatest Role Is Fatherhood Read the full interview with the Kenyan actor, who now resides in the U.K, here: sinemafocus.com/lenana-karib…

Tanzanian-Kenyan Co-Production ‘The Ones With the Tempered Flowers’ and Uganda’s ‘A Vineyard for A Lobster’ Among Projects Selected for Locarno Open Doors 2026

Watch the new trailer for Kenyan sci-fi Memory of Princess Mumbi. The film premiered at Venice Film Festival 2025.

EXCLUSIVE: Kenyan-Spanish Fiction Feature Co-Production ‘The Widow’ in Development The Widow is currently in development through Nairobi-based Sixty6 and Barcelona-based Help the Next Production. Read more below. sinemafocus.com/kenyan-spani…

The effects of Showmax’s shutdown are being felt across Kenya’s film and TV industry. By June alone, the streamer had released: • 5 titles (2023) • 5 titles (2024) • 4 titles (2025) Between 2021 and 2025, Showmax released 30 Originals in Kenya - a slate that included the police procedural Crime & Justice, later exported to Nigeria, Kenya’s first sci-fi series Subterranea, and Showmax’s first 2D animation Twende. Together, the 30 Originals represent one of the biggest investments in local content by any platform in five years.

CANAL added Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americanah” among its current African story projects in development, after an earlier HBO Max adaptation fell apart in 2020. “Americanah's" screen adaptation has been in public development for more than a decade. In 2014, Lupita Nyong’o was attached to star and produce a film adaptation of the novel. The project later moved to television. In 2019, HBO Max ordered a 10-episode limited series, with Nyong’o still attached and Danai Gurira on board as writer and showrunner. That version did not go ahead. In 2020, the series was dropped after pandemic-era production delays created scheduling conflicts and Nyong’o exited the project. CANAL has not said whether its “Americanah” is connected to the earlier version or an entirely new adaptation. Format, cast, writer, director, production partners, production timetable, and release plan will be announced at a later date. Adichie’s novel, published in 2013, follows Ifemelu and Obinze, two Nigerians whose lives move between Nigeria, the United States, and the United Kingdom, telling a story of migration, race, class, separation, and return. “Americanah” appears in CANAL Group’s 2025 full-year results and strategic update as part of its “Creating African Stories With Global Resonance” banner. The same development slate includes the Women Warriors of Dahomey project “Agoodjie,” “The Heist of Benin” (Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo attached), and a musical tied to Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album, "The Road Home." #Americanah #CANALPlus #AfricanStories #ScreenAdaptation

Kenyan documentary Truck Mama, about a long-haul truck driver and single mother of two, has taken over 10 years to complete. Now, the feature has been selected as the opening film at Encounters Documentary Festival, running from 4–14 June. Read more: sinemafocus.com/truck-mama-k…

From Kenya’s ‘Supa Modo’ to Uganda’s ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’ and Eswatini’s ‘Liyana’ to Sudan's 'Goodbye Julia', presenting a curated playlist of the best African films to watch on YouTube. Read more: sinemafocus.com/best-african…

African Film Press (AFP) — the cross-regional alliance of founding publications @akorokoafrica, @sinemafocuske, @WKM_Up — joins Locarno Open Doors 2026 as an award partner, presenting the next AFP Critics Prize. Year two of the Africa cycle runs 5–10 August: six projects, six producers, and five directors from across the continent. PROJECTS - "Too Much Music" (Ghana) — Aseye Fiagbe's documentary on keyboardist Kiki Gyan. - "Chapa 100" (Mozambique/South Africa) — Ique Langa's surrealist love story, produced by Lara Sousa. - "I Live in V.I" (Nigeria) — Ugochukwu Azuya's satire on urban space and gentrification. - "Accept My Plea For Burial" (Somalia/Djibouti) — Mohammed Sheikh's drama on tradition versus justice. - "The Ones With The Tempered Flowers" (Tanzania/Kenya) — Neema Ngelime's experimental documentary. - "A Vineyard for A Lobster" (Uganda) — Talemwa Pius's colonial allegory in a snow-covered landscape. PRODUCERS - Mamounata Nikiema (Burkina Faso), knighted at FESPACO 2021. - Natasha Craveiro (Cabo Verde), producer of "Omi Nobu." - Adja Mariam Mahre Soro (Ivory Coast), founder of Abidjan animation studio Studio Kä. - David Ikeata (Nigeria), co-producer of "Adam Bol" (2024). - Rua Osman (Sudan), credits include "You Will Die at Twenty" and "Goodbye Julia." - Tapiwa Chipfupa (Zimbabwe), EAVE alumna behind the AVEL program. DIRECTORS - Fagamou Fama Ndiaye (Senegal) - Rediet Haddis Yalew (Ethiopia) - Pocas Pascoal (Angola) - Judith Nini Kibinge (Kenya) - Ariel Añez (Mozambique) Head of Open Doors Zsuzsi Bánkuti: the future of cinema "depends on who gets to make it, and how." Head of Studies Yanis Gaye called African film ecosystems "a chance for the industry… to globally redesign" how it works. Awards go out 10 August: the Open Doors Grant (CHF 50,000), CNC Development Prize (EUR 8,000), Arte Kino Prize (EUR 6,000), a new EAVE/Luxembourg Film Fund scholarship, and the AFP Critics Prize — a certificate, $500 cash award, and ongoing coverage across Akoroko, Sinema Focus, and What Kept Me Up. #LocarnoFilmFestival #OpenDoors #AFPCriticsPrize #AfricanCinema #AfricanFilm #AfricanFilmPress #Locarno2026

Theatre Review: Grief, Madness and Grace in ‘In the Seashell Hum’ “A haunting and psychologically charged stage play about grief, mental illness, masculinity and the fragile line between reality and hallucination.” Read more below. sinemafocus.com/in-the-seash…

Defining Moment for Rwanda as Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s ‘Ben’Imana’ Wins Caméra d’Or and FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes “I made this film because I wanted to pay tribute to the women of my country, those mothers who are at the roots of an entire nation’s healing. Those mothers who, through error and unspeakable, found the strength to remain standing with dignity…” - Dusabejambo said during her acceptance speech. Read more: sinemafocus.com/ben-imana-wi…

EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Psychological Thriller ‘Bloodwood’ to Partly Shoot in Kenya Filming in Kenya is scheduled to begin in September 2026 at Loirien in the Maasai Mara. Read more below. sinemafocus.com/hollywood-fi…