Favourite African Movies - iCM Poll
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- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsMahmoud Al MelejiNagwa IbrahimEzzat El AlailiA small peasant village's struggles against the careless inroads of the large local landowner. The Land shows why political oppression does not necessarily lead to a sense of solidarity among the disinherited.
- DirectorDjibril Diop MambétyStarsMansour DioufAmi DiakhateMamadou Mahourédia GueyeDramaan is the most popular man in Colobane, but when a woman from his past, now exorbitantly wealthy, returns to the town, things begin to change.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsKhatra Ould Abder KaderMaata Ould Mohamed AbeidMohamed Mahmoud Ould MohamedThe story of two people who cross paths in Nouhadhibou.
- DirectorLemohang Jeremiah MoseseStarsMary TwalaJerry MofokengMakhaola NdebeleWhen her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to reservoir construction, an 80-year-old widow finds a new will to live and ignites the spirit of resilience within her community.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- DirectorGaston KaboréStarsJean-Claude BamogoAbderramane BoufachaAlassane DakissagaIn an early 19th century African village, Wend Kuuni - a young man, lives with his adopted family after his mother was killed as a witch. When Pughneere - his adopted sister - becomes ill, the villagers suspect Wend Kuuni. In order to save Pughneere's life (and his own) he must set out on a journey to find a healer. His quest brings him in contact with people around him and is a journey of self-discovery.
- DirectorKarin AlbouStarsLizzie BrocheréOlympe BorvalNajib OudghiriThe Nazi occupation of Tunisia strains the bonds of friendship between a Muslim woman and a Sephardic Jewish woman who are both preparing for their marriages.
- DirectorAbdelkrim BahloulStarsCharles BerlingMehdi DehbiOuassini EmbarekJean Senac, a French settler in North Africa, poet and creator of radio programs, decided to stay in Algeria after the declaration of independence in 1962. Ten years later he is now under police surveillance.
- DirectorYoussef ChahineFarouk BeloufaStarsMahmoud Al MelejiHuda SultanShukri SarhanFreed after spending 12 years in jail, a man's homecoming turns into a dark affair as his disillusion clashes with his family expectations.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
- DirectorJamie UysStarsN!xauMarius WeyersSandra PrinslooA comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
- DirectorDjamila SahraouiStarsDjamila SahraouiSamir YahiaAli ZarifUne petite maison abandonnée, isolée dans la campagne algérienne. Ouardia y a enterré son fils Tarik, militaire peut-être tué par son propre frère Ali, dirigeant dun maquis islamiste. Elle est surveillée par un des hommes dAli, amputé dun bras suite à une explosion. Dans cet univers crispé par la douleur et figé par la sécheresse, la vie va peu à peu reprendre ses droits. Grâce au jardin que Ouardia fera refleurir à force de courage, de travail et dobstination. Grâce au gardien, victime lui aussi, finalement adopté par Ouardia. Grâce surtout à larrivée entre eux de lenfant de Malia, une femme aimée des deux frères, morte en accouchant. Mais Ouardia nest pas au bout de ses épreuves. Ali, le fils maudit, revient, grièvement blessé
- DirectorGaston KaboréStarsSerge YanogoRosine YanogoJoseph NikiemaIn pre-colonial times a peddler crossing the savanna discovers a child lying unconscious in the bush. When the boy comes to, he is mute and cannot explain who he is. The peddler leaves him with a family in the nearest village. After a search for his parents, the family adopts him, giving him the name Wend Kuuni (God's Gift) and a loving sister with whom he bonds. Wend Kuuni regains his speech only after witnessing a tragic event that prompts him to reveal his own painful history.
- DirectorCheick Oumar SissokoStarsIssa Falaba TraoréBalla Moussa KeitaHabib DembéléDocuments the rise and fall of a cruel and despotic village chief Guimba, and his son Jangine in a fictional village in the Sahel of Mali.
- DirectorHaile GerimaStarsKofi GhanabaOyafunmike OgunlanoAlexandra DuahA self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
- DirectorDani KouyatéStarsFatoumata DiawaraSotigui KouyatéHabib DembéléEvery year the most beautiful girl will be sacrificed to the Python God. When a girl named Sia is the next to be sacrificed, she hides in the house of the village idiot, a man who goes around shouting hyper-aggressive criticisms against everything. Sia is found by the soldiers but the army commander had for some time prepared a revolt against the emperor and saves Sia on the way. Will Sia reveals the terrible secret she learned about the Python God ?
- DirectorIdrissa OuedraogoStarsRasmané OuédraogoIna CisséRoukietou BarrySet in a pre-colonial African past, Tilai is about an illicit love affair and its consequences. Saga returns to his village after an extended absence to discover that his father has taken Nogma, Saga's promised bride, for himself. Still in love with each other, the two begin an affair, although it would be considered incestuous. When the liaison is discovered, Saga's brother, Koudri, pretends to kill Saga for the honor of the family and village. Saga and Nogma flee to another village, but when Nogma's birth mother dies, he returns home. Having brought ruin on the family, Saga is shot by Koudri, who walks off into exile and probable death.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsFatoumata CoulibalyMaimouna Hélène DiarraSalimata TraoréWhen a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.
- DirectorSouleymane CisséStarsIssiaka KaneAoua SangareNiamanto SanogoA young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
- DirectorIdrissa OuedraogoStarsMoussa BlogoAoua GuiraudAssita OuedraogoPoverty and misery are rife in Gourga, a village in the Sahel. The inhabitants must choose: stay and await international assistance or leave for more fertile regions in the country.
- DirectorShaun KadlecDeb TullmannBORN THIS WAY is a portrait of the underground gay and lesbian community in Cameroon. It follows Cedric and Gertrude, two young Cameroonians, as they move between a secret, supportive LGBT community and an outside culture that, though intensely homophobic, is in transition toward greater acceptance.
- DirectorMahamat-Saleh HarounStarsHissène HabréMahamat-Saleh HarounIn 2013 former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré's arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime . Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those who survived this tragedy.
- DirectorThierry MichelStarsMartin SpinhayerDenis Mukwege MukengereHillary ClintonWinner of the Sakharov Prize 2014, Doctor Mukwege is internationally known as the man who mends thousands of women who have been raped during the 20 years of conflicts in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the poorest countries on the planet, despite its extremely rich sub-soil. His endless struggle to put an end to these atrocities and denounce the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators is not welcome. At the end of 2012, the Doctor was the target of another attempt on his life, which he miraculously survived. Threatened with death, this doctor with an exceptional destiny now lives cloistered in his hospital in Bukavu under the protection of the United Nation peacekeepers. But he is no longer alone in his struggle. The women to whom he has restored physical integrity and dignity, stand beside him, true activists for peace, hungry for justice.
- DirectorRenaud BarretFlorent de La TullayeStarsLeon LikabuRoger LanduCoco NgambaliKinshasa, DRCongo, 2005: Benda Bilili, poor paraplegic street musicians, get noticed by a French film team. Studio recordings get their music out on album and 2009, they have concerts in Europe.
- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsFarid ShawqiHind RustumYoussef ChahineA newspaper salesman at the train station in Cairo develops an unhealthy obsession with a woman who sells refreshments.
- DirectorMohamed DiabStarsNilli KarimBushraMaged El-KidwaniUnfolds the poignant story of three women and their search for justice from the daily plight of sexual harassment in Egypt.
- DirectorDavid AchkarStarsDavid AchkarMarof AchkarFilmmaker David Achkar searches for his father, Marof Achkar, who was sent to the notorious Camp Boiro prison in 1969 for treason.
- DirectorFlora GomesStarsMaysa MartaPedro DiasAntonio Simao MendesA beautiful, intelligent and flirtatious young girl, Yonta, is secretly in love with a friend of her parents, Vicente, a hero of the war of independence. Vicente is unaware of her passion as she is of the love of a young man who sends her anonymous love letters.
- DirectorMoustapha AkkadStarsAnthony QuinnIrene PapasMichael AnsaraThis epic historical drama chronicles the life and times of Prophet Muhammad and serves as an introduction to early Islamic history.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsAïssa MaïgaTiécoura TraoréMaimouna Hélène DiarraBamako. Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up... In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes... Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa's desire to fight for its rights...
- DirectorTeresa PrataStarsNick Lauro TeresaAladino JasseErnesto Lemos MacuacuaIn the midst of Mozambique's devastating civil war, Muidinga, an orphaned refugee, wanders the countryside in search of his mother. His only companion is an elderly storyteller, and the only guide to finding his mother is a dead man's diary. This transporting drama underscores the power of imagination in surviving, and ultimately overcoming, the catastrophe of war.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsIdris ElbaCarole KaremeraPamela NomveteWhen the Hutu nationalists raised arms against their Tutsi countrymen in Rwanda in April 1994, the violent uprising marked the beginning of one of the darkest times in African history which resulted in the deaths of almost 800,000 people.
- DirectorMoussa TouréStarsSouleymane Seye NdiayeLaïty FallMalaminé 'Yalenguen' DraméA group of African men leave Senegal in a pirogue captained by a local fisherman to undertake the treacherous crossing of the Atlantic to Spain where they believe better lives and prospects are waiting for them.
- DirectorDjibril Diop MambétyStarsMagaye NiangMyriam NiangChristoph ColombMory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.
- DirectorMohamed DawoodOmar ElkholyStarsAbukar AwaleHussein DualehMohamed Hashi ElmiThe story of Somalia's decline from stability to chaos revealing the problems facing its people at home and abroad.
- DirectorHajooj KukaThe story of the people of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan, showing how they deal with civil war. Traditionally music has always been part of daily life in these areas, but now, it has a new role in a society challenge by war.
- DirectorHugo Van LawickStarsFabenFifiFlint
- DirectorAnne-Laure FollyStarsDjelika DialloAlimata KonatePortraits of contemporary African women from four West African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin.
- DirectorMoufida TlatliStarsHind SabriGhalya LacroixNejia OuerghiAs she grows up, Alia (the daughter of housemaid Khedija) learns the secrets of the peaceful palace where she and her mother live.
- DirectorRachid BoucharebStarsSamy NaceriRoschdy ZemSami BouajilaDuring World War II, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from German oppression, and to fight French discrimination.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneThierno Faty SowStarsSidiki BakabaHamed CamaraIsmaila CisséIn this semi-autobiographical film, black soldiers help to defend France, but are detained in prison camp before being repatriated home.
- DirectorRayhana ObermeyerStarsHiam AbbassFadila BelkeblaNadia KaciFatima, a strong-minded woman, is the lead masseuse of a hammam in Algiers. This is 1995 and the situation is tense in the capital. The day ahead promises to be hectic for all, and for Fatima in particular. Already, while walking to her place of work, she is the distant witness of a terrorist attack. At the hammam, Fatima should feel better, but the atmosphere proves electric in her small enclosed world, she has great difficulty in maintaining order. All the more as Meriem, a sixteen-year-old pregnant girl comes to take shelter at the hammam. And as irate brother, Mohamed, is after her to cleanse his honor in blood.
- DirectorSuhaib GasmelbariStarsManar Al HiloSuleiman IbrahimAltayeb MahdiFour older Sudanese filmmakers with passion for film battle to bring cinema-going back to Sudan, not without resistance. Their 'Sudanese Film Club' have decided to revive an old cinema, and again draw attention to Sudanese film history.
- DirectorNadine LabakiStarsClaude Baz MoussawbaaNadine LabakiYvonne MaaloufA group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village.
- DirectorHenry BarakatStarsFaten HamamahZaki RostomAbdallah GheithA poor peasant woman becomes a symbol of worker oppression in this somber social drama directed by Henri Barakat. Azziza (Faten Hamama) is brutally raped by a guard when she goes into the fields to gather potatoes for her husband (Abdallah Gheiss). She does not relate the incident to her husband who is suffering from an undisclosed illness. Azziza hides the pregnancy and strangles the baby after it is born, but she also dies soon thereafter. The migrant workers rally around her memory as she becomes a martyr to the cause of the struggling peasants.
- DirectorMohamed DiabStarsNilli KarimHany AdelMuhammad El-SebaiSet entirely in an 8m police truck, a number of detainees from different political and social backgrounds are brought together by fate, during the turmoil that followed the ousting of former president Morsi from power.
- DirectorDaouda CoulibalyStarsIbrahim KomaInna ModjaIsmaël N'DiayeA young man begins trafficking cocaine and quickly becomes embroiled in the Malian drug ring.
- DirectorTarik SalehStarsFares FaresMari MalekYasser Ali MaherA maid witnesses a murder at an upscale hotel and a policeman is assigned to the case, but it soon becomes clear that important people don't want the case solved.
- DirectorSouheil Ben-BarkaStarsAbdou ChaibaneMimsy FarmerSi AhmedIn Morocco, an old dyer and his young son Miloud work transporting wool packs. So begins this story in the hands of thousands of old men, women and children involved in meticulous weaving carpets.
- DirectorBoris LojkineStarsJustin WangEndurance NewtonNabyl Fally KoivoguiOn his clandestine journey from Cameroon to Europe through the Sahara desert, Léonard meets Hope, a Nigerian girl who's following the same dream.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsTabata NdiayeAlioune FallMoustapha YadeIn protest of forced conversion to Islam, the Ceddo (outsiders) kidnap King Demba War's daughter Princess Dior Yacine and hold her hostage.
- DirectorMati DiopStarsMame Bineta SaneAmadou MbowTraoreIn a popular suburb of Dakar, workers on the construction site of a futuristic tower, without pay for months, decide to leave the country by the ocean for a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada, promised to another.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsMakhouredia GueyeYnousse N'DiayeIsseu NiangA money order from a relative in Paris throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one.