Story
Pan-African and international films that centre authentic voices and original perspectives.
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Johannesburg · South Africa · Est. 2018
AfricaRising
A world-class social impact film festival giving rise to the African voice.
Discover the story07Editions
of impact
of impact
The festival
Where African stories take the frame.
Africa Rising International Film Festival is a majority youth-led platform with community at its heart. Since 2018, ARIFF has connected emerging filmmakers with established vanguards, creating space for bold cinema, professional development and meaningful skills transfer.
Community
A welcoming meeting place for audiences, artists, industry leaders and the next generation.
Impact
Professional development and skills transfer that build a stronger African film ecosystem.
A
Not simply a festival.
A living screen for a continent in motion.
Cinema · Culture · Community · Change
The journey
ARIFF over
the years.
A festival rises
ARIFF launches with a clear purpose: leave no storyteller behind and give the African voice a world-class platform.
Africa takes centre stage
A second edition celebrates African identity, music and cinema through an expanding programme of screenings and conversation.
Film for change
The festival responds to a changing world with stories and dialogue centred on equality, justice and social impact.
Africa in me
The fourth edition brings audiences together around personal stories, new voices and the power of authentic African narratives.
Here we are
ARIFF marks five years by celebrating its growth, its community and the storytellers taking their rightful place.
Africa in frame
The sixth edition expands its cinematic footprint across South Africa and into Namibia under the theme “Shaping the Future of African Cinema”.
The seventh chapter
ARIFF returns to Johannesburg with new work, red-carpet screenings and a programme built around the next generation of African filmmakers.
The people’s festival
The eighth edition gathers film lovers, emerging voices and established filmmakers for three days of screenings, panels and purposeful industry conversation.
From the archive
Programmes
in focus.
A glimpse into the films, conversations and creative programmes that have shaped ARIFF across recent editions.
2024
The next voices of the continent
ARIFF Talks · Digital Hub · Screenings · Film Child
2023
Time Spent With Cats Is Never Wasted
Official selection · Africa In Frame
2023
Faces of Fortune
Official selection · Africa In Frame
Purpose in practice
Passing the filmmaking baton.
Founder and Chairperson Lala Tuku shaped ARIFF as an inclusive bridge between emerging filmmakers and established African vanguards. Festival Director Ayanda Sithebe carries that purpose forward through development, access and skills transfer.
Lala TukuFounder & ChairpersonAyanda SithebeFestival Director
In the frame
Moments that
moved us.
In the press
Stories beyond
the screen.
Coverage of ARIFF’s work, its filmmakers and the conversations moving African cinema forward.
The next chapter
Stay close
to the story.
Follow ARIFF for future festival news, African cinema and the voices shaping what comes next.