NYAFF settles into Brooklyn’s BAM Rose Cinemas from May 22 to May 28 as FilmAfrica, part of DanceAfrica 2026, BAM’s longest running program and the nation’s largest celebration of African diasporic dance, music, and culture. Curated by the African Film Festival, this cinematic companion spotlights the culture and artistry of Uganda presenting a showcase of contemporary and classic Pan-African cinema that highlights the continent’s rich storytelling traditions, social movements, and artistic expression.
At BAM, the selection ranges from foundational works such as:
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- Ossie Davis’s 1972 film Black Girl, starring Leslie Uggams, to assured debut features from
- Olive Nwosu — the 2026 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble winner Lady
- Suzannah Mirghani’s Thessaloniki FIlm Festival prize-winning film Cotton Queen.
The opening Night film, the New York premiere of Mohamed Ahmed’s A Tribe Called Love, is a modern-day take on the Romeo and Juliet tale set in Toronto with families from two different Somali tribes. Akinola Davies Jr.’s critically acclaimed My Father’s Shadow — the U.K.’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards — casts a powerful presence over the program.
The lineup also includes a strong slate of Ugandan films. Among them:
- Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala, now celebrating its 35th anniversary
- Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’sMemories of Love Returned, a documentary chronicling his more than two-decade effort to preserve the photographs of master photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo
- Loukman Ali’s taut thriller, The Girl in the Yellow Jumper
- Patience Nitumwesiga’s The Woman Who Poked the Leopard, a documentary about medical anthropologist and LGBTQ rights advocate Dr. Stella Nyanzi, who was jailed for speaking out against state repression.
BAM Rose Cinemas is located at 30 Lafayette Avenue. For tickets, visit https://www.bam.org/.
