Visions of Tomorrow: Inside Accra Indie FilmFest’s Opening Night
I’ve been meaning to go to the Accra Indie Film Fest (AIF) for a while, but somehow, I miss it every year. A past version of myself must have been determined to go this year. I had the dates marked on my calendar and a reminder popped up a few days ago. I went to their Instagram and looked at the flyer for opening night. The event was free, and I had the time, so I got a ticket.
The theme for the seventh edition of AIF is “Disruption – Visions of Tomorrow”. Out of more than 500 submissions, 56 films were selected from more than 33 countries. From August 4-9 free screenings, workshops, and events will be held at Alliance Francaise in Accra.
It was raining lightly when I parked my car outside of Alliance Française on opening night. Despite this, there were quite a few people seated at the outdoor amphitheatre, some under umbrellas, unwilling to let the weather dampen the evening.
I arrived just before a representative from the French Embassy gave a speech about their support for the festival and African cinema. The rain picked up and I moved away from the crowd so I wouldn’t block anyone’s view with my umbrella.
The final speaker before the films was AIF founder and director, Evan Eghan, who established AIF in 2019. In addition to highlighting the importance of AIF to young Ghanaian creatives, he also announced a new project to grow and expand the Ghanaian film industry: Sol Accord.
Four short films were screened on opening night. The first, Ya Hanouni, was a three-minute short in Arabic with English subtitles about two parents and their baby against the backdrop of an unnamed conflict. It was brief, but impactful.
The second, Sins of a Father, centred a therapy session between a father and son. They were trying to name and unpack a generational pattern, which resonated with the audience.
All of the shorts were great, but the third and fourth were my favourites. Bear is a dramedy that completely upended our expectations, pivoting from humour to calamity in a matter of minutes. The crowd gasped, laughed and screamed. This was a fun one, and it felt bizarre in the best way.
In the final short, Stuck, a fascistic government comes to power in Germany and a journalist finds himself caught in limbo in Nigeria. This film was a dystopian take on the festival theme and felt relevant to our current global political climate.
After the final short there was a Q&A with Nigerian filmmaker Desmond Ekunwe, who produced Stuck. He shared that the film was shot in one day in Benin City, Nigeria on a budget of N100,000. He spoke on the importance of collaboration and leveraging relationships to produce high quality films with limited resources.
As a film lover who has become disenchanted with the superhero movies and remakes that dominate mainstream cinema, it was refreshing to see new and original ideas on screen.
The Accra Indie Film Fest runs from August 4-9, 2025 at Alliance Française in Accra, Ghana. Tickets are free for all screenings and events. More information can be found here.
