New York African Film Festival — Lincoln Center
- Film at Lincoln Center and African Film Festival, Inc. open the 33rd New York African Film Festival on May 6, kicking off the Manhattan leg. - At Lincoln Center, the lineup runs May 6–12 with 14 feature films and 25 shorts, opening with Erige Sehiri’s “Promised Sky.” - It matters because Lincoln Center is just one stop in a monthlong citywide festival that now spans more than 100 films.
The New York African Film Festival is back at Lincoln Center this week, and the useful thing to know is that this is not just a niche repertory sidebar. It is one of the longest-running U.S. showcases for African and diaspora cinema, and this year’s edition is sprawling — bigger than the Lincoln Center dates alone make it sound. The Manhattan run starts Tuesday, May 6, at Film at Lincoln Center, but the full 33rd festival stretches across New York through May 30. ### What is happening at Lincoln Center? The Film at Lincoln Center portion runs May 6 through May 12 and serves as the festival’s most visible Manhattan stop. That segment alone includes 14 contemporary and classic feature films plus 25 shorts, with many filmmakers expected in person for post-screening Q&As. ### Where exactly are the screenings? The festival page shows screenings at Lincoln Center venues on West 65th Street — primarily the Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. If you are going, that matters more than the generic “Lincoln Center” label, because the opening-night event and the rest of the week are split across those spaces. ### What opens the festival? Opening night is the New York premiere of “Promised Sky,” directed by Erige Sehiri. It screens May 6 and follows an Ivorian pastor living in Tunisia who forms a makeshift family with young women taking refuge in her home. The film already arrived with prestige — it opened the 2025 Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, its crossover weight, not just local-interest appeal. ### What else is a standout? The centerpiece is “The Eyes of Ghana,” directed by Ben Proudfoot, about 93-year-old Chris Hesse — Kwame Nkrumah’s personal cinematographer — trying to save an archive of films that could reshape historical memory. That is a very NYAFF kind of pick. It documents who kept the reels, and who gets written back into history. ### What is the theme this year?
