Breaking down distribution barriers
It’s a familiar pattern: an African filmmaker makes a consequential film. It might be recognized by the industry and even earn a festival premiere, and maybe it screens in the capital. Then, it vanishes. International audiences never hear about it. National cinemas don’t show it. And the communities where it was filmed? They never get to see their own stories on screen. Distribution has been one of the key hurdles keeping African cinema on the margins.
Against that backdrop, DW Akademie and its partners set out to break down some of the barriers. That meant creating roadmaps for these films to reach the audiences they deserve, both at home and abroad.
The documentary film series Generation Africa, created with South African partner STEPS, offered African perspectives on the pressing issue of migration. The project supported the production and distribution of 25 documentaries made by African filmmakers.
These films have had more than 18 million views on online platforms alone. They’ve been screened more than 400 times at festivals worldwide and shown by ARTE, DW, BBC Africa, and elsewhere. And just as important, local screenings were organized in community halls, schools, and village squares. These gatherings brought people together to watch and to talk.
At the same time, DW Akademie’s engagement helped propel new voices. Kenya’s first Netflix original series, “Country Queen” stayed at number one in the country for three weeks and reached Netflix watchers in 190 countries.
These achievements matter — African films on global platforms, views in the millions, and recognition and rewards at major festivals. They also matter for the people making them. Each production brought work to local crews, strengthened professional skills and helped build a foundation for a more resilient film sector across the continent.
But these successes serve an even larger purpose. They are shifting the narrative about African challenges. Africans themselves now have a stronger voice in that conversation.
Local screenings open doors to dialogue
The lights go down in a community hall in Malawi, a school auditorium in Colombia, or a village square in Zimbabwe. A projector flickers to life, and images fill a screen in front of an audience. But instead of watching the exploits of superheroes or melodramas in far-off capitals, viewers see their own lives reflected back at them through the stories on the screen. These are stories made by filmmakers who understand the audience’s reality from the inside.
After the credits roll, facilitators lead conversations that communities are often reluctant to have — about migration, violence, economic survival and histories that are difficult to discuss or have been silenced.
Between 2022 and 2024, 300 screenings like this reached 28,000 people across Africa and beyond, each one organized by local partners — schools, cultural centers and remote towns and villages. Many of these locations face basic barriers — unreliable electricity or a lack of equipment — that often prevent films from reaching local audiences.
In Zimbabwe, after audiences saw “Transactions”, they began talking about fears around migration, their futures, and their families that few had shared openly before.
Lansana “Barmmy boy” Mansaray’s film “New Boats” examined the collapse of livelihoods among Sierra Leone’s coastal fishermen caused by illegal industrial trawlers. With the help of a mobile screen unit — a generator, projector, screen, and sound system — it reached affected communities along the coast.
The viewing in Tombo, where “New Boats” is set, drew 330 people who recognized not just the issues but the protagonists themselves. After the credits rolled, fishermen, women who process and sell fish and local leaders spoke about how the crisis was shaping their lives.
“I will keep advocating for government to protect the fishermen who work on these industrial boats — and to ensure their families are supported when accidents or deaths occur,” said Community Chairwoman Nancy Sesay.
These aren’t incidental screenings. Producers strategically identify who needs to see which film: government officials considering migrant policies in The Gambia, community leaders in Niger discussing violence prevention, Sierra Leonean maritime officials and the US Coast Guard considering how to boost cooperation.
In a world where spaces for free expression keep shrinking, these screenings prove that when communities see themselves on screen and talk about what they’ve seen, new understanding can result and with it, the possibility to take steps forward.
