Rising Watchlist - RollCallAfrica

Jabu Nadia Newman Was the Only African Filmmaker in TIFF’s Directors’ Lab. The Opportunity Now Has to Become a First Feature

Film Professional

Jabu Nadia Newman reached TIFF’s Directors’ Lab as its only African filmmaker. The important measure now is whether the programme…

Canada South Africa

Adanne Is Moving From Kigali to London. Orobosa Ikponmwen’s Real Test Is Whether the Festival Route Produces Distribution

Film Professional

Orobosa Ikponmwen’s feature Adanne will screen at festivals in Kigali and London before a planned theatrical release. Its route now…

Nigeria Rwanda

Madi Makambu Won Five Venice Support Awards Before It Was Finished. Machérie Ekwa Bahango Has Turned Post-Production Into a Financing Strategy

Film Professional

Madi Makambu secured five Venice support packages before completion. RollCallAfrica examines how Machérie Ekwa Bahango turned an unfinished film into…

DR Congo

Folagade Banks Is Taking Mama Deola From Social Character to Long-Form Screen Property

Film Professional

Folagade Banks has moved Mama Deola from short-form familiarity into a Kava-exclusive feature. The commercial test is whether the character…

Nigeria

Abraham Gezahagne’s Mehal Sefari Has Reached Venice. Its Ethiopian Production Base Is Worth Watching Too

Film Professional

Mehal Sefari’s Venice showing puts Abraham Gezahagne on the watchlist. Its production and funding records reveal an Ethiopian-led international project.

Neema Ngelime Is Turning Fibroids, Fertility and Faith Into One of East Africa’s Most Formally Ambitious Documentaries

Film Professional

After winning two Locarno Open Doors prizes, Tanzanian filmmaker Neema Ngelime is developing a formally ambitious documentary about fibroids, fertility,…

Rising Watchlist™: Samuel Udeh, the Art Director Who Understands That Belief Is Built

Art Director · Nigeria

The Rising Watchlist has spent 2026 tracking directors, actors and producers. This week it turns to a craft the trade…

Rising Watchlist™: Damilola Orimogunje. He Just Became the First Nigerian Director to Compete at Venice Days. His Quiet, Precise Cinema Is the Answer to Everything Loud About Nollywood.

Director · Nigeria

Damilola Orimogunje just made history as the first Nigerian director to compete at Venice Days, with his sophomore feature Dear…

Rising Watchlist™: The Critics Company. The Teenage VFX Collective From Kaduna That Taught Itself Filmmaking on YouTube Just Landed at Locarno. Remember the Name.

Film Professional

The Critics Company — the young Nigerian filmmaking and VFX collective from Kaduna that famously taught itself special effects from…

Rising Watchlist™: Suzannah Mirghani. The First Sudanese Woman to Direct a Narrative Feature Made a Film About a Cotton-Town Girl Refusing Her Own Sale. Sudan Can Barely Watch It. The World Should.

Film Professional

Cotton Queen is the first narrative feature directed by a Sudanese woman — Suzannah Mirghani. It follows a girl in…

Dika Ofoma — Director & Writer, Nigeria

Director, Writer & Journalist

Q2 2026 Rising Watchlist™. He is 25 years old. He is self-taught. He started filming in 2020 with his friend's…

Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo — Director, Rwanda

Director & Screenwriter

Q2 2026 Rising Watchlist™. She spent seven years developing Ben'Imana. It is the first Rwandan film in the Cannes official…