Kilifi Creek Festival opens in Kenya with 92 films at 17 venues

The second Kilifi Creek Festival opens on 23 October and runs to 31 October 2026 in Kilifi, on Kenya's coast, with 92 films shown at 17 venues along the creek, Sinema Focus, a film journalism site covering Kenya and East Africa, reported on 9 October. The Terrace Art Space is the headquarters.

The opening film is Reuben Odanga's music drama Tides, starring Sarah Hassan and Brian Kabugi as a singing couple in Mombasa who struggle after the COVID-19 pandemic. The closing film is One Woman One Bra.

The 92 films were chosen from 260 submissions from more than 50 countries and include features, shorts, experimental and immersive works. Thirty-eight compete across 17 award categories, with cash prizes in selected categories. The International Documentary Association backs the Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short prizes, Chicken & Egg Films the Best Film by an African Woman, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Social Impact Award for short and feature, and Global Girl Media the Best Emerging Filmmaker award.

Four competition titles are singled out in the line-up. Variations on a Theme is South Africa's 2027 Oscar submission and won the Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. One Woman One Bra is Kenya's 2027 Oscar submission and won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the BFI London Film Festival. The Woman Who Poked the Leopard, from Uganda, won the Jury Prize at Afrika Film Festival Köln in 2026. Kikuyu Land, from Kenya, had its world premiere at Sundance in 2026, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

The AFP Critics Prize is presented in East Africa for the first time. It is run by African Film Press, a pan-African alliance of Akoroko, Sinema Focus and What Kept Me Up, and goes to an African short film in competition, chosen by an independent critics' jury. The first prize was awarded in Lagos in December 2025; the second at Locarno Open Doors in August 2026.

The nine-member jury is led by Dr Sulaiman Kassim, a Nigerian filmmaker. Its Kenyan members are Jackie Lebo, Mike Muraya and Hawa Essuman, founder of Manyatta Screenings.

The festival adds a VR Village for virtual reality and immersive cinema. The industry programme covers filmmaking, funding and distribution, film and journalism, social impact and activism, AI and technology, women in film, equitable co-production, music and film, and queer stories and belonging. Masterclasses, panels, workshops, live music and theatre run alongside the screenings.

The festival was founded in 2025 by the filmmakers Zippy Kimundu, Mumo Liku and Saitabao Kaiyare. Kevin Mwachiro, a Kenyan activist, writer and former BBC journalist, is the festival director. Kaiyare said, as quoted by Sinema Focus: "We are deeply invested in expanding the culture and access to cinema beyond the traditional centers."

The first edition ran from 11 to 18 October 2025 at seven venues, and the festival's website puts it at 47 screenings of 33 films from 15 countries, with more than 1,000 attendees. The Kenyan news site HapaKenya reported in October 2025 that those screenings were free, with RSVP required.

Sanaa Post, an entertainment news site, reported on 1 October 2026 that exclusive events are sold through tickets.sanaapost.com. The French-language site Mondafrique reported on 21 October that The Terrace Art Space is at Mnarani, Bandari Beach, and that the online calendar was still being finalised, with schedules and prices to be checked with the organisers at kilificreekfestival.com. The festival's press contact is [email protected].