Ziniaré Turns into a Cinematic Landscape: A Look Back at our KIFIFE Kids Film Festival

07.06.2025

It’s a wrap! With great joy, we look back on this year’s edition of our KIFIFE Kids Film Festival at the Opera Village. Year after year, enthusiasm for the festival continues to grow, and it has now become a cultural highlight for children, youth, and families in the Ziniaré region. What began as a local project has evolved into a significant platform for creative expression and cultural exchange — showing just how vibrant the interest in film and storytelling arts remains among young people.

KIFIFE brings cinema to places where there is often no access to movie theaters — directly to the Opera Village and surrounding villages. This year again, carefully curated films were shown on mobile screens. Screenings took place not only at the Opera Village itself but also in neighboring communities, regularly attracting large audiences of all ages. The films came from various African countries and explored the lives, dreams, and challenges of young people on the continent. Key themes included family, environmental awareness, cultural identity, and social responsibility. Highlights included Bal Poussière (1989) by Henry Duparc from Ivory Coast, a humorous look at patriarchal structures, and Begho (2022), an animated film by Victoria Aryee (Ghana/France) that took children on a magical journey to 16th-century West Africa. The short film Butter Fly (2024) from Togo touched audiences with a poetic story about a butterfly caught between kindness and danger. Other highlights were the touching drama Le mouton de Sada (2023, Senegal), the environmental documentary L’homme qui plantait des baobabs (2024, Burkina Faso) about a man who planted over 4600 baobab trees, and the animated film Mofiala (2020, Togo), telling the story of a young woman who bravely pursues her studies against her family’s wishes and later returns as a doctor. The documentary Omi Nobi (2020, Cape Verde) offered a moving portrait of an old fisherman living on São Nicolau, highlighting the harsh forces of nature.

Alongside the film program, creative participation was once again a central focus. KIFIFE offered a variety of workshops inviting children and youth from the Ziniaré region to get actively involved. Guided by experienced artists, participants took their first steps into the worlds of film and performing arts. Belko Salman Diallo from Burkina Faso led an innovative virtual reality workshop, giving children the chance to explore digital spaces and expand their imaginations. In a stop-motion workshop with Bonface Wahome from Kenya, animated short films were created from simple everyday materials. Malian artist Saran Sidibé introduced the children to the creative world of AI-assisted animation — a new and fascinating field for many. Acting skills were discovered and developed in a drama workshop with Chairmaine Ruvimbo Mujeri from Zimbabwe. A special highlight was the puppetry workshop with Ousséni Zongo from Burkina Faso, where children crafted their own stage characters with clay, paper, paint, and lots of imagination — then brought them to life in small performances. These hands-on experiences fostered not only artistic skills but also teamwork, expressiveness, and self-confidence. KIFIFE once again demonstrated how crucial it is to create creative spaces for young people in the region — spaces where they can experiment, tell stories, and develop their own perspectives.

We are especially pleased that KIFIFE continues to gain more support each year — both within the Opera Village and the surrounding villages of the Ziniaré region. Increasing visitor numbers and growing interest in workshops and screenings confirm the festival’s role as an important place for cultural education and creative development.

With great anticipation, we are already planning the next edition of the KIFIFE Kids Film Festival at the Opera Village. Our goal remains unchanged: to provide young people with access to the captivating art of film, where they can experience and express their world and culture beyond globally dominant narratives. The festival serves as a vital space for empowerment, cultural identity, and intergenerational exchange. To successfully realize this vision again next year, we are currently seeking committed sponsors and partners to support the growth and continuation of KIFIFE 2026.

We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to this year’s sponsors, whose generous support made this edition possible:

Tales Of Us, Storming Donkey Productions, Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, Jutta Vogel Stiftung, Norbert W. Grossklaus (Protestant Pastor / City Councilor Offenburg) & Planbar 3 Gbr.