Approaching Launch Date!

With five African premiers, twenty East African premiers and twenty-eight Ethiopian premiers in the lineup and the award winning cinematic extravaganza TEY (Today) by Alain Gomis showing at the opening Night, the inaugural edition to the Colours of the Nile International Film Festival is set to be launched in the great African capital of Addis Ababa between the 7th and 11th of November, 2012.  

 
Festival Objectives

  • Promoting African cinema by exposing African audiences and filmmakers to African films and thus popularizing these films in their continent of origin.
  • Enrich the African cinematographic culture.
  • Facilitate learning, exchange and networking among African filmmakers towards seeking solutions to common challenges and improving the quality and standard of African films.
  • Developing the African film market by bringing together filmmakers, writers, local and international film-funders, producers, distributors, cultural organizations and other industry professionals.

The Colours of the Nile International Film Festival is here to give African cinema a vibrant platform and worldwide visibility.


During its five days, CNIFF will showcase approximately fifty-eight feature films from twenty-two countries: feature length films, documentaries and short films from the African continent and beyond; all of them being Ethiopian, East African or African premiers. 

This year’s festival program will feature:
Seven Official Sections; three competitive and four non-competitive, four workshops and one special screening.

Twenty-nine films have been selected to compete in three sections:

  • Feature films made by African directors and / or produced by an African country in the last 2 years
  • Documentaries made by African directors and / or produced  by an African country in the last 2 years
  • Short films by African directors and / or produced by an African country in the last 2 years

Moreover, the Festival will present four non-competitive sections, including:

African Special: A tribute to Senegalese cinema, co-presented with Cinémathèque Afrique  - a section of selected most influential classical and contemporary Senegalese films.

Location Africa: With the aim to bring attention to African stories as well as to encourage considering  Africa as an exciting and feasible filming location, this panoramic section comprised of non-African  productions  by non-African directors set in the continent depicting African stories. 


Best of the Fest: Critically acclaimed African and international films showcased at the premiering International film festivals worldwide. 

Ethiopian Heritage: A selection of classic and contemporary films of Ethiopia will be showcased.

A special screening to commemorate fifty years of Alger's Independence will be marked with the film "A Trip to Algiers/Voyage a Alger“ (in collaboration with Cinémathèque Française).

Launching its first edition CNIFF managed to form several significant partnerships with leading international  and African film organizations and institutions such as Cinémathèque Afrique France (part of the Institute Française), Encounters International Documentary Film Festival (South Africa) and the Aljazera Network (London bureau).

In addition, the New York based distribution/programming Company Seagull Films stepped in as a CNIFF contributor.