NBO Film Festival returns to Nairobi from 15 – 25 October 2026, bringing its biggest programme yet across Prestige Plaza, Unseen Cinema, Kaloleni Social Hall and Alliance Française Nairobi. This year’s festival will bring cinema into Nairobi’s wider public life through screenings, community programmes, City Dialogues and filmmaker conversations, creating opportunities for audiences to discover and engage with African cinema, meet filmmakers and participate in conversations around the stories shaping the continent.
Under this year’s theme, Cinema for Us, the seventh edition of the festival is built around a simple belief: African cinema should not only travel the world, but should also be experienced by African audiences at home and together. NBO 2026 invites audiences to discover new work, recognise excellence, revisit important bodies of work, debate ideas and support what gets made next.
This year’s festival expands its programme with three juried competitions, its first-ever filmmaker retrospective andan expanded industry programme, alongside screenings, community programmes, City Dialogues and filmmaker conversations taking place across Nairobi.
NBO Film Festival will celebrate and recognise African cinema through three juried competitions including the returning Fiction Feature Film Competition alongside two new competitive categories: the Nick Wambugu Prize for Documentary, awarded to the best documentary in competition and a new Short Film Fiction competition, recognising excellence in short-form storytelling. The competition jury chairs will be announced on 4 September, followed by the three competition selections on 7 September.
Mbithi Masya, Artistic Director of NBO Film Festival, says, “Cinema for us means creating a space where audiences can discover, celebrate and engage with the stories being made across Africa and beyond. We want this festival to be part of Nairobi’s public life and a place where people come together to experience cinema, exchange ideas, recognise excellence and imagine what comes next. With our biggest programme yet and additional competitions, NBO 2026 is about building a deeper culture of cinema and making sure African audiences have a place in the conversation.”
For the first time, NBO Film Festival will present a retrospective dedicated to acclaimed Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis, whose films have previously screened at the festival. With Gomis in attendance for both audience and industry events, the retrospective will offer audiences an opportunity to revisit his body of work and explore his creative evolution and contribution to African cinema. Supported by EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture), the full retrospective line-up will be revealed on 9 September, followed by the announcement of the festival’s opening film and major Special Presentations on 10 September.
The 2026 edition of The NBO Film Festival will also strengthen its commitment to the future of African cinema through an expanded industry programme designed to connect filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences. The programme will include the NBO Project Showcase, creative labs and professional exchanges, creating opportunities for filmmakers to develop projects, share ideas and build meaningful connections within the regional and international film industry.
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
- Three juried competitions, including the Fiction Feature Film Competition
- First-ever Nick Wambugu Prize for Documentary
- New Short Film Fiction competition
- First NBO filmmaker retrospective dedicated to Alain Gomis, supported by EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture).
- Alain Gomis in attendance for audience and industry events
- Expanded industry programme featuring the NBO Project Showcase, labs and professional exchanges
- Community programmes, City Dialogues and filmmaker conversations across Nairobi
- Screenings across four Nairobi venues
- Festival dates: 15 – 25 October 2026
