Best African history movies

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.

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.

The Square looks at the hard realities faced day-to-day by people working to build Egypt’s new democracy. Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the heart and soul of the film, which follows several young activists. Armed with values, determination, music, humor, an abundance of social media, and sheer obstinacy, they know that the thorny path to democracy only began with Hosni Mubarak’s fall. The life-and-death struggle between the people and the power of the state is still playing out.

The true story of an 84 year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau freedom fighter who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford.

In 16th-century Zazzau, now Zaria, Nigeria, Amina must utilize her military skills and tactics to defend her family's kingdom. Based on a true story.

The movie focuses on the fury state that was among the people in synchronization with the main event in Egypt: The 1919 Egyptian Revolution which unites the fates of Kira and El Gen to participate in the struggle against the British occupation.

Set in 1881, a year before the start of British colonial rule, it is based on the true story of the Abd el-Rasuls, an Upper-Egyptian clan that had been robbing a cache of mummies they have discovered at tomb DB320 near the village of Kurna, and selling the artifacts on the black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members made a crucial decision when the Antiquities Service arrived.

In the 12th century's Andalusia lives Ibn Rushd a prominent Islamic philosopher with his wife Zeinab and daughter Salma. The principality is ruled by Khalifa ElMansour who has two sons, ElNasser, an intellectual that likes Ibn Rush and is in love with his daughter Salma. The younger son Abdallah is more into dancing and poetry, spending most of his times with the gypsy family and getting the daughter pregnant. The Khalifa is depending on the extremists to build his army granting them more power which they use to combat artists and philosophers. The extremists succeed in recruiting Abd Allah and train him to kill his father. Events go on where Marawan, the gypsy singer, is killed and Ibn Rushd's books are burnt. Adapted from the real life of Ibn Rushd AlMasir is Chahine's statement against extremism.

A platoon of Commandos’ soldiers, lead by a fearless commander, Nour, and their journey through heroic battles from The Six Days War to the commencement of The Attrition War.

The first Sultan of Egypt and Syria leads the Muslim military campaign against the invading Christians from Europe during the Third Crusade.

A sequel to The Treasure (Part 1) - Reality & Fantasy (2017) The movie resumes with the stories of Hatsheput in the Pharaonic era, Ali al-Zaibaq during the Ottoman era and Beshr al-Katatini, head of State Security Investigations Service, who faces new challenges in work and love, whilst pointing his son, Hassan, towards a treasure through his recorded will.

A biopic depicting the life of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, following his early life, his political and military achievements, and his assassination during the Cairo annual victory parade.

A foreigner led by some Nigerians enters a small Ghanaian village with the intention of stealing something precious from them. Will they succeed in their quest?

The Arabic Cut of the Message. This epic historical drama chronicles the life and times of Prophet Muhammad and serves as an introduction to early Islamic history.

Based on one of the major literary texts survived from the Middle Kingdom, the classical period of Egyptian literature, The Eloquent Peasant is a combination of a morality/folk tale and a poem. The events are set between 2160 and 2025 BC. When the peasant Khun-anup and his donkey stumble upon the lands of the noble Rensi, the peasant’s goods are confiscated and he’s unjustly accused of theft. The peasant petitions Rensi who is so taken by the peasant’s eloquence that he report his astonishing discovery to the king. The king realises the peasant has been wronged but delays judgement so as to he can hear more of his eloquence. The peasant makes a total of nine petitions until finally, his goods are returned.

The authorities summon many young men for forced labor in the Suez Canal, so Metwally leaves his sister Shafiqa alone with their old grandfather, whereupon Shafiqa is forced to succumb to the temptations of Diab, the district chief's son. As their sinful relationship is revealed, she is forced to leave for Asyut, where she becomes the mistress of Al Tarabishi, the supplier of slaves.

16th July 1969: America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of kilometers away, a ragtag group of Zambian exiles is trying to beat America to the Moon.

The only dramatization using the actual scriptures...word for word from the New International Version (NIV). In Israel, then known as Judea of the Roman Empire, Nazarene Jesus Christ travels around the country with His disciples preaching to the people about God and salvation of their souls.

Amr is a 35 year old man who wakes up one day to a very different Egypt. Amr rarely leaves home as he works from his place designing software. It is January 25, 2011 and Amr starts the day with news of protests all over Cairo and marches leading to Tahrir square. Something tells him that these protests will lead to major political change. Farah, a woman in her early 30’s, is a news anchor on Egyptian television. The news Farah gives her audience is very different from the news presented online or on international news channels.

The biblical tale of Joseph is told from an Egyptian perspective in this interesting character study. In this film, Joseph is called Ram. Ram, tired of his family's backward superstitious life, and tired of being picked on by his brothers, wants to go to Egypt to study agriculture. His brothers travel with him across Sinai, but then suddenly sell him to Ozir, an Egyptian who works for a Theban military leader, Amihar. Amihar is impressed by Ram's drive and personal charm and so grants Ram some desolate land outside the capital. Ram soon finds himself a pawn in the political and sexual games between Amihar and his wife Simihit, a high priestess of the Cult of Amun.

At the height of the Oyo Empire, the ferocious Bashorun Ga'a became more powerful than the kings he enthroned, only to be undone by his own blood.

Reem is a young political activist who works for an advertisement company. As she tries to uncover the truth behind the incide of the Battle of the Camel, she accompanies her friend Farah to Nazlet Al Seman where she meets and falls for Mahmoud, one of the people involved in the incident.

Rebel Ibrahim Hamdy assassinates a pro-colonial Prime Minister but is arrested and hides with a fellow university student, who initially refuses but eventually accepts him. Abdul Hamid Khatib meets Samia and her cousin, and Ibrahim uses the situation to hasten Samia’s marriage, which she rejects. Nawal, the youngest daughter, becomes the liaison between Ibrahim and his colleagues, helping him escape. Abdul Hamid tries to inform the political police of Ibrahim’s location, but Samia stops him. The head of the political police suspects them and punishes them to find Ibrahim. Ibrahim refuses to leave the country, returning to fight colonialism and participating in an operation.

Meet Ousmane Sembene, the African freedom fighter who used stories as his weapon.

Set in 1901, this period epic follows Willem Morkel, a Boer family man whose wife and son are murdered during the Anglo-Boer War. Captured as a prisoner of war, Willem must survive incarceration in the notorious St. Helena concentration camp and defeat the ruthless Colonel Swannell, at his own game—Rugby

The story follows a young man who gets to know a girl and causes her many problems. But when he's exposed to an accident, his life takes a drastic turn.

In the year 1807, they city of Rashid is under attack by the British forces. Harfoush, a brave knight must deliver a message to the ruler of Egypt to demand military aid in order to resist the enemy. After killing some soldiers, he finds himself in a cave with a wise old man who tells him about his destiny. When Harfoush wakes up he realizes that he is now at the gates of Cairo except it is the year 1998...

Nasser 56 is a 1996 Egyptian historical film directed by Mohamed Fadel, starring Ahmed Zaki. The film focuses on the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt's second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the subsequent invasion of Egypt by Israel, the United Kingdom, and France.

This big-budget historical epic from acclaimed Egyptian director Youssef Chahine features a crazed turn by Patrice Chereau as Napoleon Bonaparte. The film, an Egyptian-French co-production, deals with Napoleon's occupation of Alexandria and its effect on a typical Egyptian family. Michel Piccoli leads the cast as a general in Napoleon's army who tentatively befriends a local poet.

In 1969, a group of Egyptian frogmen target and destroy two Israeli vessels in the port of Eilat during the War of Attrition.

Jerusalem: Center of the World tells the epic story of the world s most incredible city, capturing the rich mosaic of the city s Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. Covering a sweeping history of over 4,000 years, the film explores the founding of the city; the birth and convergence of the world s three major monotheistic religions; and the key events in Jerusalem s history as described in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Talmud, the Hagaddah, the Koran, and the Hadith. Highlights include: Mount Moriah, the site of the First and Second Temples; the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; the Dome of the Rock; and the Western Wall. Directed by Andrew Goldberg, and hosted by Ray Suarez (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer), the film includes interviews with locals, top scholars and clergy.

After the assassination of the Palestinian artist Naji Al-Ali in London in 1987, the film flashes back to the stops that he went through in his life, starting from his displacement with his family to Lebanon, to his work in Kuwait, to his return to Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war.

Four women meet at Dar Joued on the eve of Independence. With different ages and social conditions, they are condemned to live together under the authority and injustice of their jailer: "El Jaida". They will share memories of the outside world, joy, emotions and distress of their daily lives.

Part documentary, part personal essay, this experimental film combines archive imagery with the striking wintry landscapes of Alaska to tell the story of immigrant experience coming into the UK from 1960 onwards.

Djamila, a young Algerian woman living with her brother Hadi and her uncle Mustafa in the Casbah district of Algiers under the French occupation of Algeria, sees the full extent of injustice, tyranny and cruelty on his compatriots by French soldiers. Jamila's nationalist spirit will be strengthened when French forces invade her university to arrest her classmate Amina who commits suicide by ingesting poison. Shortly after the prominent Algerian guerrilla leader Youssef takes refuge with her, she realizes that her uncle Mustafa is part of this network of anti-colonial rebel fighters. Her uncle linked her to the National Liberation Front (FLN). A series of events illustrate Jamila's participation in resistance operations against the occupier before she was finally captured and tortured. Finally, despite the efforts of her French lawyer, Jamila is sentenced to death...

Set in the 14th century. Under their leader Timur, the Tartar hordes invade the Middle East and take over areas as widespread as Persia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Syria. A lowly woman from a harem (Lubna Aziz) rises to lead the Egyptians against the invaders.

In Egypt forties and before the 14th of July revolution in 1952, a poor family lives in a prince's palace where the father works as a gardener. The family has two children Ali and Hassan. Ali grows up liking the prince's daughter who loves him too. Now grown ups, they realize how impossible this love story is. Joining the army, Ali fights in Palestine while the brother joins the police and is part of the King's guards. Ali gets back from Palestine and joins the secret military movement that will soon rule Egypt, The Free Officers. The revolution starts and the Free Officers are now in charge, putting Ali against his brother as a guard for the king and also against his lover, the prince's daughter as the revolution will confiscate all her family's wealth.

In the wake of the Cairo Fire, Essam feels guilty for betraying his friend Samir by messing around with his wife Madiha. Essam decides to take revenge on Madiha's father who pressured him to marry her to avoid a scandal.

The biography of the iconic leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, from his birth to igniting the revolution to the defeat of 67 and his disagreement with Abdel Hakim Amer, then his planning for the War of Attrition and his sudden death that stunned the world in 1970.

The film takes place in Palestine and portrays the lives of freedom fighters trying to free their village from the control of the Israelis. Ahmed (Omar Sharif) is an Egyptian freedom fighter who ends up in this village. There, he meets Salma, a girl from the village. Together they try to save the Palestinians and always escape danger.

A couple sets up an African game preserve, only to have British and Italian armies fight over the waterholes.

Rabi'a al-Adawiyya is a classic film from 1963 based on the life of the early Sufi saint and poet Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, also known as Rabi'a al Basri, in the second Islamic century.

Mohamed is a soldier who finds himself in Gaza after the defeat in the 1967 War. He returns to his native village feeling broken and depressed after witnessing the deaths of his fellow soldiers. He still loves Fatima but her father wants her to marry Abbas who exploits the farmers and eventually rapes her.

In 1969, a group of Egyptian frogmen target and destroy two Israeli vessels in the port of Eilat during the War of Attrition.

The story surrounds a young boy called Obaid. He is confronted with a choice to live an easy life in this world or to struggle for reward in the hereafter.

Set in the First Matabele War in what was then Rhodesia; a scouting group from the British South African Company are chasing the Ndebele king Lobengula when they are ambushed by a massive Ndebele forced and must take a desperate last stand.

Igie Ehanire a research student on African Art history gets touched, he gets more perturbed about the injustice of the British invasion of Benin.

This is the story of young Hassem, the son of a powerful sheik, set at the beginning of Hegira. When the youngster's uncle is murdered, Hassem decides to go to Mecca with a view to finding the culprit and punishing him. But what he discovers there is not the murderer but the prophet Muhammad. Touched by grace, Hassem converts to the new religion and comes back to his village to propagate the new faith. Which is not to his father's liking, since the Muslim religion is opposed to feudal rights and privileges. The infuriated sheik curses his son and starts persecuting the new converts.

The film presents a part of the biography of legendary artist Umm Kulthum since 1944, shedding light on her unfinished romance like her relationship with King Sharif Sabri's uncle, and Ahmed Rami. And her role in the revolution of 1952 and after the defeat of 1967 and the sacrifices she made.

From the 1920s on, Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum became the first prominent Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.

A representation of the lives of a group of officers and soldiers, portraying their intertwined fates and the tragedies they have to witness, both on the battlefield and at home.

Zaki Dawoud is a Jewish merchant who trades in leftover WWII weapons in El-Alamein and smuggles them to Israel with the help of the English Colonel Collins. Ghazy is a member of the resistance against the English occupation who is trying to stop the smuggling operation.

Bringing 15th-century Africa--before the arrival of colonizers--to rich, colorful life, chronicling the exploits of legendary Yoruba king Sango, ruler of the Oyo empire: his ascension to the throne, his battles with the Olowu and his own war generals, his dangerous experimentations with potent charms, and his ultimate deification.

A film-experiment in six hundred takes, three seconds each, of a European's private images in Africa and of an African's images in Europe. A mutual perception of the one's and the other's native place.

Sol Plaatje was a politician, novelist, historian, musician, translator of Shakespeare into vernacular language, and founder member of what was to become the African National Congress. In 1924, a visionary South African, Sol Plaatje, set out to bring the wonders of cinema to the community. Brandishing a few educational 16mm films under his arm, Plaatje arrives in a dusty, Blacks-only township in the Western Transvaal. He is looking for a venue which can be set up as a bioscope. Things do not seem promising, but Plaatje is first befriended by a helpful young boy. And then, despite prevailing apartheid obstacles, a room is found. The township community is excited and set to be overawed by the new celluloid world about to unfold before them.

Based on the life and legend of Antarah ibn Shaddad, a 6th century poet and hero whose poetic works are considered among the greatest in the Arab language.

In two imaginary states consumed by wars, the kings decide to resort to affinity to avoid wars. On the way, the king's son escapes from his guards, but he meets his awaited bride, Set Elhosn , without knowing who she is. He falls in love with her while trying to escape the marriage.

Shadad sends his son Antarah to herd sheep after he refuses to acknowledge him as his son because of his dark skin and his mother is a slave and refuses to wed Antarah to his cousin Abla. When Banu Abs is invaded by another tribe, they enlist Antarah's help in exchange for allowing him to marry Abla.

After Antar's death, the men of the Bani Fazaza tribe take revenge on the men of the Bani Abs tribe, leaving no man from them, and Antar's sister can escape and hide Antar's daughter, raising her to hate her father's enemies until she grows up

Renegotiating the representational paradigm of nationhood the film draws a heterogeneous picture of Egyptian society as well as Soviet workers as they embarked on the momentous dam enterprise. The films presents a vision of a nation deep rooted in unity as well as diversity. The films projection of a renewed imagining of the nation inadvertently acknowledges a new and nuanced understanding of its goals, political objectives, and how these impact the personal within it. (KHOURI)

Piet du Bois is a miner who wants to buy a farm. He meets a Bushman and his wife buying their land and expelling after. The Bushman exposes a legend about a fabulous hidden treasure.

The film deals with the life of the Arabian peninsula before Islam emerged, where idolatry, ignorance and corruption spread all over. Then the Mohammedan message of worshiping God alone begins and the difficulties facing Islam and early Muslims starts.

The story of the Arabic Robin Hood, the legendary local hero Adham Al-Sharqawi who persisted in resisting the British occupation for years and tried to alleviate the suffering of the people of his village.

A historical drama that shows the struggle of the Egyptian people against the British occupation and the numerous sacrifices people made in order to achieve freedom, equality and human dignity in a fight for the country they love dearly.