Grab your tickets now – the JFF’s most ambitious line-up yet hits screens this March
Johannesburg, 03 February
Running from 3 – 8 March 2026, the festival will present over 60 curated films, including 40 fiction feature films, 18 non-fiction feature films, 65 short films including 9 student works, selected from 691 submissions spanning Africa, Europe, the USA, South America, the UK, Asia and the Middle East. Screenings will take place at various cinemas across Johannesburg.
A festival that invites audiences to feel the frame
Guided by the 2026 theme ‘Feel The Frame’, this year’s programme celebrates not only stories, but the craft of filmmaking itself, from performance and sound to form, structure and visual language. Beyond screenings, festival-goers
“We always seek to create a platform that reflects the breadth and depth of contemporary filmmaking,” says Joburg Film Festival Curator Nhlanhla Ndaba. “This year’s programme centres layered, human stories from across the continent and the world films that are entertaining, challenging and deeply resonant.”
Why the 2026 line-up matters
The 2026 JFF programme reinforces the festival’s reputation as a leading platform for emerging African voices while showcasing acclaimed international work. Highlights include:
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3 Academy Award nominees
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The Voice of Hind Rajab – Best
International Feature -
It Was Just An Accident – Best International Feature
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Kokuho – Best Make Up And Hair
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Selections from over 30 distributors
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Films representing 14 African countries
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A dynamic mix of magical realism, Afro-futurism, docu-fiction, myth and political cinema
Films to watch
South African cinema features prominently with must-see titles such as Warren Masemola-fronted Kabelo which is set in Lesotho, the illuminating documentary And
Several films engage directly with South Africa’s past and present including Diana Keam’s Don’t Be Late for My Funeral, a deeply personal documentary exploring apartheid-era relationships, and Lemohang Mosese’s Ancestral Visions of the Future, a haunting meditation on identity, memory and belonging.
Standout international titles include Zoey Martinson’s Ghana-set The Fisherman, a playful yet poignant tale involving a talking fish and Dust to Dreams, which is a short film directed by Idris Elba set against the backdrop of a Lagos focusing on a terminally ill mother who runs a nightclub and attempts to pass her legacy on to her daughter.
Cinema that pushes form and feeling
In keeping with the festival’s theme, a number of films explore innovative technical and narrative approaches. These include Ted Evans thriller ‘RETREAT’, which features an entirely deaf cast and builds intimacy through sound alone, Meekaaeel Adam’s The Trek, an immersive Kalahari-set experience, Mehrnoush Alia’s 1001 Frames, a visceral exploration of abuse and the #MeToo movement and Ondřej Provaznik’s Broken Voices, a formally daring thriller that fuses sound, image and emotion and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated film THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, which chronicles the harrowing experience of a 6 year old Palestinian girl’s call to an emergency service, the film is made from the actual recordings of the call.
A shared commitment to African storytelling
Such craftsmanship underscores the values shared by JFF and headline sponsor the MultiChoice Group, a CANAL + company; “We’re proud to support a festival that not only showcases Africa’s talent but welcomes the world into our creative ecosystem,” says Nomsa Philiso, Director Content, General Entertainment, English & Portuguese-speaking Africa at MultiChoice Group. “The Joburg Film Festival aligns strongly with our commitment to amplifying African voices and supporting the next generation of filmmakers.”
Tickets & festival info
With its bold programming and industry-focused experiences, the 8th edition of the Joburg Film Festival promises a week of discovery for film lovers, students, creators and cultural explorers alike. Screenings take place at The Bioscope, Egrek Cinema, Theatre on the Square, The Forge, Artistry and Nu Metro Hyde Park.
Tickets go on sale from 30 January 2026, priced from R50 to R200, with festival passes available here or at
Find out more information on the Joburg Film Festival here
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ABOUT THE JOBURG FILM FESTIVAL
The Joburg Film Festival is a world-class African film event dedicated to showcasing outstanding cinema, nurturing young talent, inspiring industry dialogue, and strengthening Africa’s position in the global creative ecosystem. Rooted in Johannesburg’s vibrant cultural energy, JFF continues to shape the future of African storytelling.
ABOUT MULTICHOICE GROUP (A CANAL+ COMPANY):
MultiChoice Group (MCG), a subsidiary of Groupe CANAL+, is a leading provider of entertainment and related consumer services. The company has an expanding ecosystem, underpinned by scalable technologies, and a track record now spanning almost 40 years. MCG provides video entertainment products and services through its linear and streaming platforms to millions of households across 50 countries on the African continent and continues to grow by producing and acquiring the best local, sport and international content and offering tiered subscription packages and aggregated streaming services to its customer base. MCG’s superior technology capabilities enable it to continue innovating around distribution, digital and payment solutions, and content security to offer the best customer experience across the continent. Reaching up to 100 million individuals daily, the MultiChoice Group is using its scale and distribution to expand its platform to include sports betting and interactive entertainment, fin-tech services, household services (focused on internet connectivity and emergency response services) and ed-tech. Irdeto, MCG’s technology business, provides platform cybersecurity services which protect over 6 billion devices and applications globally for some of the world’s best media and technology brands, as well as clients in the connected industries sector.