Afolabi Olalekan’s “Freedom Way” will open this year’s New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), marking its New York premiere on May 7.
The debut feature joins over 30 titles from Africa and the diaspora screening at Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) and across Harlem, Brooklyn, and St. Nicholas Park throughout May.
Set in Lagos, “Freedom Way” follows nine characters whose lives intersect in one chaotic day , from startup founders facing a stifling economy to law enforcement officers caught on opposite sides of a corrupt system. The film, which had its world premiere at FESPACO in Burkina Faso, brings a sharp, fast-paced look at survival and justice in urban Nigeria.
Now in its 32nd edition, this year’s festival runs with the theme “Fluid Horizons: A Shifting Lens on a Hopeful World,” spotlighting stories by and about Africa’s youth , alongside works by veteran filmmakers who paved the way. The lineup cuts across genres and styles, with both fiction and nonfiction films tackling themes like migration, womanhood, resistance, and memory.
Other Nigerian films in the selection include “God’s Wife” by Dika Ofoma, which will screen as part of the all-women shorts program on Closing Night. The 15-minute film, spoken in Igbo, follows a young widow forced to choose between personal conviction and Catholic tradition. There’s also “The Man Died,” an adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s prison memoir directed by Awam Amkpa, which will screen as a U.S. premiere.
The festival’s Centerpiece is “Memories of Love Returned,” a documentary by Ugandan-American actor and filmmaker Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, the film tracks a 20-year journey to uncover the legacy of a forgotten Ugandan photographer. It previously won Best Documentary at the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos.
Beyond screenings, NYAFF will host talks and exhibitions, including a free panel on May 10 with filmmakers discussing how African cinema has evolved over the past 15 years.
There will also be two visual art showcases: “Congo RE-Vue,” a photography exhibition featuring Congolese artists, and “All Night We Waited for Morning, All Morning We Waited for Night,” a light installation by Bereket Adamu on migration and globalization.
The festival also includes a focus on Congolese cinema, with a curated lineup featuring works by Mwezé Ngangura, Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, and Nelson Makengo. From Morocco, Nabil Ayouch’s “Everybody Loves Touda” explores the challenges of a female performer trying to find work in a conservative society. Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Black Tea” offers a quiet love story between an Ivorian woman and a Chinese tea shop owner in Guangzhou.
NYAFF 2024 runs from May 7 to 13 at Film at Lincoln Center. The festival continues at Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem (May 15–18), at Brooklyn Academy of Music (May 23–29), and wraps up with an outdoor screening at St. Nicholas Park on May 31.