Discover the best of African cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Africa. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of Africa
To talk about African cinema is to talk about a brilliant kaleidoscope of film, a dynamic and diverse collection of stories from more than fifty nations. It is a cinema of vibrant energy, deep soul, and groundbreaking creativity. Its modern story truly began in the post-colonial era of the 1960s, when visionary filmmakers rose to tell their own stories for the first time. Pioneers like the Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, often celebrated as the "Father of African Cinema," saw the camera as a tool for empowerment, crafting films that challenged, educated, and reflected a newfound identity. Today, the continent is a cinematic force. Nigeria’s Nollywood has become a global phenomenon, recognised as one of the largest film industries in the world, producing a staggering number of movies and captivating television dramas that are loved across the globe. Meanwhile, South Africa has produced Oscar-winning features and gripping series that tackle its complex history with raw honesty. The streaming age has further fuelled this explosion of talent, with platforms backing ambitious original series from Kenya to Ghana. What makes African cinema so unique is its powerful connection to oral traditions, its social conscience, and its infectious spirit. It’s a cinema telling authentic stories from a fresh perspective, demanding the world’s attention.
Best African series
Paranormal 2020
Set in the 1960s; Paranormal follows the adventures of Dr. Refaat Ismail, a professor of hematology, as he comes up against various supernatural events with the help of his Scottish old flame, Maggie.
Netflix69
Blood & Water 2020
After crossing paths at a party, a Cape Town teen sets out to prove whether a private-school swimming star is her sister who was abducted at birth.
Netflix71
Unseen 2023
A house cleaner desperately searches for her husband as a dreaded criminal syndicate dredges up past tragedies and ultimately drives her to violence.
Netflix66
Labyrinth 2012
Jumping back and forth between modern and medieval France, the lives of two women separated by centuries, are united in their search for an ancient artifact.
Channel 458
Fatal Seduction 2023
A married professor is pulled into a passionate affair with a younger man that uncovers a path of tragedy and betrayal from those closest to her.
Netflix60
Queen Sono 2020
A highly trained South African spy must face changing relationships in her personal life while taking on her most dangerous mission yet.
Netflix65
Best African movies
Chappie 2015
Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings—some good, some bad—and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there's one thing that makes Chappie different from any one else: he is a robot.
70
Hotel Rwanda 2004
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.
79
My Octopus Teacher 2020
After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
78
The Gods Must Be Crazy 1980
A Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane raises havoc among a normally peaceful tribe of African bushmen who believe it to be a utensil of the gods.
73
Action Point 2018
A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.
61
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom 2013
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
71
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