The Future is Africa – A Generation in Flux

We are excited to announce the third edition of the children and youth film festival The Future is Africa. Under the motto “A Generation in Flux”, we are dedicating the 2025 edition to the political expression of a young generation in transition. From September 17 to 21, 2025, we will once again bring together cinematic and discursive perspectives from Africa and the African diaspora at IL Kino in Berlin-Neukölln. At the heart of the festival are young people whose voices are becoming increasingly heard worldwide – whether on the streets, on social media, or on the big screen. They protest against inequality, environmental destruction, patriarchal structures, and colonial legacies. With this year’s selection of films, we aim to show how young people use creative means to challenge existing power structures and imagine alternative visions for a fairer future. The curatorial direction is led by Andrea Voges, Festival Manager of the Durban International Film Festival, who combines political storytelling with artistic depth.

This year’s festival highlights include Coconut Head Generation by Alain Kassanda, in which a student film club at the University of Ibadan becomes a space for political reflection and intellectual exchange; The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos by the Agbajowo Collective, an afrofuturist drama about a young mother in a floating Lagos slum who, through spiritual powers, becomes a symbol of resistance against corrupt city politics; and Terra Mater by Kantarama Gahigiri, a poetic and associative short film exploring the ecological and technological traces of neocolonialism. Other films, such as Nawi, Sudan, Remember Us, and Of Mud and Blood, depict courageous young people, political empowerment, and global injustices from multiple perspectives.

Alongside the film program, we offer hands-on workshops with international filmmakers, school screenings followed by discussion sessions, and numerous opportunities for young people to engage creatively with topics such as identity, environmental justice, and political activism. We see The Future is Africa as a platform for critical exchange, creative empowerment, and transnational solidarity – a festival through which we do not only explore the future, but actively help shape it. All information about the program can be found here!

The Future is Africa is a project of Christoph Schlingensief’s Opera Village Africa and is presented in partnership with der Freitag as a media partner. The film festival is supported by AKW Berlin, the Institut français d’Allemagne, VSI Berlin GmbH, and the Berlinguisten. This year, the festival is again funded by the