BSIFF 2026 Puts Ghanaian Cinema At The Centre Of Its Kumasi Edition

The Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF) will place Ghanaian cinema at the centre of its 11th edition as the festival moves to Kumasi for the first time, with organisers calling for a stronger culture of watching and supporting African films at home.

The festival, scheduled for 24 to 27 September 2026 at Golden Eagle Cinemas in Kumasi, will feature films from 11 countries selected from submissions received from 42 countries.

Ghana will have a significant presence in the programme, with films such as Legacy Africa, Ashes of Accra, Love Is Death (Odo Yewu), King of Tema, Sesime, Home, Or Our Journey Is Still Long and We Won’t Let You Poison Us among the selected works.

Other Ghanaian titles include Almost Forever, Captain Ibrahim Traore, The City of God Beneath the River, The Weavers Thread and Suluku 

The films are spread across sections including the Ghanaian Showcase, Documentary, Africa Rising, Student Showcase, Kumawood and Special Screenings, reflecting the range of formats and approaches represented in Ghanaian filmmaking.

The festival’s 2026 theme, Film & Global Culture: The New Wave of African Cinema, is built around questions about how African cinema can develop stronger audiences, embrace local languages and cultures, and reach international audiences.

BSIFF says the focus is not intended to turn African cinema inward. Instead, it argues that filmmakers need stronger audiences in their home markets while continuing to pursue international opportunities.

The festival is also putting local-language filmmaking at the heart of this year’s programme. Organisers say African filmmakers can use their own languages and cultural experiences as a strength rather than treating them as barriers to international audiences.

That approach has gained visibility in other film industries, where locally produced films have found international audiences through subtitles, dubbing and digital distribution.

BSIFF argues that Ghana can develop a similar path by connecting audiences more directly with films made in Ghanaian languages and rooted in local experiences.

The decision to hold the festival in Kumasi is another major part of the 2026 strategy.

For years, much of Ghana’s formal film and creative-industry activity has been concentrated in Accra. BSIFF’s organisers say taking the festival to Kumasi is intended to bring cinema closer to audiences and recognise the city’s contribution to Ghana’s indigenous-language screen culture.

Kumasi has also been closely associated with Kumawood, the popular Ghanaian film industry known for its use of Akan-language storytelling and its broad domestic audience.

BSIFF says its move to the Ashanti regional capital is therefore more than a change of venue.

It is an attempt to connect filmmakers with audiences outside the traditional festival circuit and to examine how audience development can become part of the wider business of filmmaking.

The festival’s official programme includes a dedicated Kumawood category.

The festival is presenting this as part of a wider effort to strengthen the business side of African cinema.

Organisers say completing a film is only one stage of the process.

Marketing, distribution, audience engagement and creating opportunities for filmmakers to meet distributors, broadcasters, journalists and potential collaborators are also necessary to give films a sustainable life beyond production.

BSIFF’s official platform describes its broader objective as promoting the business of film while bringing cinema closer to audiences.

Its 2026 programme includes screenings, industry conversations, masterclasses and other engagements involving filmmakers, producers, students, creatives and audiences.

The 2026 selection also reflects changes taking place across the wider film industry. Alongside conventional narrative films and documentaries, the programme includes animation, student productions, AI-generated films and Kumawood productions.

For Ghanaian filmmakers, the festival offers an opportunity to place locally produced work alongside films from Nigeria, Uganda, the United States, South Africa, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, Singapore, the Dominican Republic and Russia.

The organisers say the objective is not simply to showcase Ghanaian films but to examine how Ghanaian and African stories can build audiences locally while travelling beyond the continent.