The 2025 edition of the Kano Indigenous Languages of Africa Film Market and Festival (KILAF) has received a record 616 film submissions from 77 countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the festival is scheduled to hold from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8, 2025, with the theme ‘Crossing Storytelling Boundaries: Strategies for Multilingual Success in African Filmmaking’.
KILAF Founder, Abdulkareem Mohammed, announced this in Kano on Sunday while addressing newsmen, saying that the submissions underscored the festival’s growing continental and global recognition.
He explained that 85 films from 30 countries were selected across various categories including short, feature, documentary, and animation films.
Mohammed said the leading countries are: Egypt (17 films), Nigeria (14), Morocco (8), and Tunisia (4).
The festival has 18 award categories, with nominees from 14 countries including UK, US, Israel, and Italy co-productions.
Mohammed cited KILAF’s focus on academic research, capacity building, and promoting indigenous storytelling.
Activities include an international conference at the Bayero University Kano, screenings, workshops, and panel discussions.
Other events are the 2nd Entrepreneurship Summit for Women in Media Business and KILAF-SUG Carnival showcasing African heritage.
(NAN)
