The 32nd New York African Film Festival Shorts Program - Films By And About African Women

Geek Vibes Nation

29-05-2025

The 32nd New York African Film Festival has always been known for selecting and screening contemporary classic films from Africa and the diaspora. The 32nd Edition with this year's theme, 'Fluid Horizons: A Shifting Lens on a Hopeful World,' honors the resilience of African youth and their ancestors, and that is evident through the selected titles in the closing night shorts program by and/or about African women. The films vary from touching emotional tales to visual, kaleidoscopic feasts for the eyes. As the Geek Vibes Nation remote festival coverage faithful soldier, I decided to share a brief overview of this year's titles. The festival has been traveling all over New York, will run at BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) during the DanceAfrica festival through Thursday, May 29, and concludes with a free screening at St. Nicholas Park on Saturday, May 31.
Temple Road (13 minutes)
There's nothing more intimate than feminine rituals in this culturally specific short. Directors Anil Padia and Michael Mwangi Maina create a sepia-colored world of spiritual and ritualistic preparation of a woman, blending Kenyan and Indian cultures in a dazzling, golden-hued mix. Scenes after scenes of women dressing the protagonist, Akidor, in finely embroidered fabric, washing her hair, braiding it, and indulging in detailed habitual cleansing, scrubbing, bathing, and rubbing by the elder women in her family, and brought into her rites-of-passage journey into womanhood. Padia's costume design and creative direction find inspiration in his fashion design roots. The result is a feast for the eyes and a sensual visual experience like no other.
We Will Be Who We Are (16 minutes)
From Kenya to Sierra Leone, another director brings a stunning visual piece about two best friends who decide to marry in an attempt to free one another from societal restrictions. Aya and Boi ceremoniously celebrate life, friendship, individuality, and freedom, all against the backdrop of stunning cinematography and breathtaking landscapes. As Aya indulges in the latest fashion trends and Boi performs the Muslim prayer, the distance between them becomes more apparent. In another scene, where they both wear wigs and beautiful dresses, it's clear how similar they truly are. Director Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda perfectly uses inspiration from director Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, and creates a stunning commentary on repressed individuality in conservative societies.
Iron Fist (15 minutes)
In another Kenyan gem, the pressures of motherhood and responsibility take their toll on Wangari, a hardworking Nairobian woman. She finds relief and catharsis at a local boxing gym, where the hardships of her conditions and the demands of daily physical work clash with seeking bodily exertion and avoiding creepy, stalkerish predators. Kagure N. Kabue paints a beautiful story of resilience, feminine empowerment, and celebrating working women all over the world, all told through simple cinematic language and an enjoyable narrative that prioritizes the liberation and independence of women above all.
Le Grand Calao (27 minutes)
There are films that feel like a breath of fresh air on a hot summer day. Le Grand Calao is essentially this film, where a group of women decides to take a break from the burdens of their hectic lives to spend time at the Grand Calao's public pool. Conversations flow in this stunning short as director Zoé Cauwet captures the intimacy and coziness of feminine moments. The film is simply shot and executed, highlighting how, in these modest settings, those women can still find their happiness and their release from the daily life burdens. In one scene, one of the women dips into the swimming pool for the first time, and Cauwet beautifully emphasizes this genuine moment of feminine liberation and experimentation for this unassuming woman from a small town.
Sira (24 minutes)
Mariame N'diaye's film takes place in France, but the Malian traditions are the ones at play here. A mother-daughter bond in a foreign country makes them create the cultural oasis they are both craving, a place far away from a rather hostile environment, at least for the mother, evident in subtle moments, coyly sneaking themselves into the short narrative. The film takes a heartbreaking turn when it shows the Malaian couple struggling with the reality of their situation as immigrants, and the rules imposed on them by the French society, including understanding the language and being fluent in it. It's a bittersweet short about how the effect of language and cultural barriers on the bond between a mother and a daughter.
God's Wife (15 minutes)
A powerful Nigerian short about the suffocating traditions imposed on women in a patriarchal society. The film begins with the Igbo tradition of cutting a widow's hair. Through a close-up, director Dika Ofoma presents a young woman's face, washed in grief and morbid anticipation of what is coming next. His bold cinematic language creates the perfect vehicle for showcasing the young woman's suffering in a society, weighed down by tradition, that keeps rejecting her existence and individuality, forcing her to make difficult choices. The film is a disturbing anatomy of a woman exploited due to the harsh circumstances of her poverty and her lack of resources, a tough but necessary watch.