The Supreme Price is ambitious both in its scope and its intentions: “Following the annulment of her father’s — Moshood Abiola — victory in Nigeria’s 1993 Presidential Election and her mother’s — Alhaja Kudirat Abiola — assassination by agents of the military dictatorship, Hafsat Abiola faces the challenge of transforming a corrupt culture of governance into a democracy capable of serving Nigeria’s most marginalized population: women,” plugging her organization along the way. Produced and directed by Joanna Lipper, the film comes with some high-profile backers (MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation/Just Films, ITVS, etc). The extended trailer below was commissioned by Gucci to launch their “global Chime for Change Campaign”. We’ll have to watch it.

A second film to watch out for is Tu seras mon allié (“You will be my ally”) by Cameroonian director Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam (remember her portrait of Congolese artist Freddy Tsimba from a while back). The short tells the story of a woman from Gabon, played by Bwanga Pilipili, who gets stopped at the airport upon her entry to Belgium, and on what happens next. The cast further includes Gael Maleux and Isabelle Anciaux:

The Secret Capital is the second joint production by Mukhtar Shehata and Samuli Schielke — after their “The Other Side“ (2010). Set in Egypt, the question it asks is a complicated one: Was there a revolution? “Two years after the beginning of the January 25 Revolution,” they write, “many Egyptians ask themselves this question. The answer is not to be found on Tahrir Square, but in the villages of countryside, the secret capital of Egypt.” The filmmakers follow the struggles, hopes and frustrations among people from Shehata’s home village who between February 2011 and December 2012 tried to bring the revolution to their village in northern Egypt:

Angolan director Pocas Pascoal’s first feature film Por Aqui Tudo Bem (“All is well”) won the European Union Award at FESPACO earlier this year. Synopsis: “In the late summer of 1980, Alda and her sister Maria, at the age of 16 and 17, arrive in Lisbon to escape the civil war in Angola. Left to themselves, they must learn to survive in a foreign city.”

And The Capacity of Capcity is director Sara Chitambo’s story* on the rise, demise, and “imminent revival” of Pretoria’s hip hop scene. The documentary features interviews with a broad range of key stakeholders, from producers such as Nyambz and Thirteen, to emcees such as Maliq and Damola, and fringe observers such as Hype magazine editor Simone Harris and DJ Kenzhero.



* File this one under “shameless self-promotion” since Ts’eliso helped out with the editing. The film will premiere on 27th April at the Back to the City Festival (Newton, South Africa). For future screening dates, keep an eye on the film’s Tumblr.

Further Reading

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.