African Cinema Festival & More

On Thursday, March 19, at the Cinema Teatro San Massimo, the 45th edition of CINELÀ FESTIVAL OF AFRICAN CINEMA AND BEYOND opens with the section Travelers&Migrants, dedicated to raising awareness and informing about the phenomenon of migration.

The festival returns this year with a selection of four feature films that offer a privileged view of internal and external migrations from the African continent, to tell the complexity of departures, arrivals, and paths of residence.

The first film of the festival will be the romantic drama The Sea in the Distance (Morocco, Belgium, France - 2024) by Saїd Hamich Benlarbi. The film, presented as a world premiere at the Semaine de la Critique of the Cannes Film Festival 2024, received great success in the festival circuit, earning prestigious awards at the Festival National du Film de Tanger 2025 and at the Festival International du Film de Migration d’Agadir 2025.

The second appointment will continue on Friday, March 20, with The Travelers (Cameroon, Spain - 2025) by David Bingong. On Saturday, March 21, the third film of the festival, Africa Blanca (Morocco, France - 2025) by Azlarabe Alaoui Lamharzi, will be screened. Lucia Pellegrini from the Abinit Association will be present in the audience for a dialogue with the public.

Closing the festival on Sunday, March 22, will be the feature film Les Fourmis (The Ants) (Morocco – 2025) by Yassine Fennane, among the most discussed and awarded Moroccan films of 2025. Journalist Jessica Cugini will speak after the screening.

The event is organized by CMD, the Nigrizia Foundation, the Pia Society of Don Nicola Mazza and Progetto Mondo.