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Beyond Nollywood: a short tour of African cinema

Guides · October 27, 2026 · 3 min read · By WowStoryTV Editorial

Nollywood is the best-known film industry in Africa, but it is far from the only one. The continent has 54 countries, well over a thousand languages and film traditions that reach back to the years of independence. This tour introduces a few of the places, people and films that make a good starting point.

Senegal and the birth of African film

Ousmane Sembène, a Senegalese novelist who turned to filmmaking, is often called the father of African cinema. His Black Girl (La Noire de…, 1966), about a young Senegalese woman who goes to work for a French family, is widely regarded as one of the first feature films by a sub-Saharan African director. Sembène went on to make films such as Xala (1975) and Moolaadé (2004), which used humour and drama to question power, tradition and colonial legacies. Senegal also gave the world Djibril Diop Mambéty, whose Touki Bouki (1973) remains one of the boldest African films ever made.

Burkina Faso and FESPACO

Every two years, Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso hosts FESPACO, the Panafrican Film and Television Festival, founded in 1969. It is one of the most important showcases for African cinema, and its top prize, the Étalon de Yennenga, is among the continent's most respected awards. Burkinabè directors such as Idrissa Ouédraogo and Gaston Kaboré made films rooted in village life that were celebrated around the world.

Mali and Mauritania: poetry on film

Malian director Souleymane Cissé's Yeelen (1987), a mythic story of a young man's journey to confront his father, won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Abderrahmane Sissako, born in Mauritania and raised in Mali, made Timbuktu (2014), a portrait of a town living under jihadist occupation, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won seven César awards in France.

Ghana: from video to the world

Ghana developed a home-video industry alongside Nigeria's, and the two countries' actors and audiences have long crossed over. Ghanaian romantic dramas and comedies have a loyal following across West Africa and the diaspora, and a new generation of Ghanaian filmmakers is showing work at international festivals.

South Africa

South Africa has a large film and television industry, with productions in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho and other languages. Tsotsi (2005), about a young gangster in a Johannesburg township, won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. Today South African series and films reach audiences worldwide through streaming.

East and North Africa

Kenyan filmmakers have produced award-winning dramas and documentaries, and Nairobi is a growing production centre. In North Africa, Egypt built one of the oldest film industries in the world, and filmmakers from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have long been part of the international festival scene.

How to explore

  • Follow a country. Pick one place and watch three films from it; patterns start to appear quickly.
  • Follow a director. Many African filmmakers return to the same questions across their careers.
  • Mix the old and the new. Classic festival films and today's popular dramas and comedies tell you different things about the same place.
  • Use subtitles. Many of these films are in Wolof, Bambara, Mooré, isiZulu or Arabic as well as French and English.

Start with our beginner's guide to Nollywood if you haven't already. WowStoryTV is building a catalogue of African films and series alongside stories from the Caribbean, Asia and the West; browse what's streaming now.