African filmmakers take home prizes at Venice 2026
A Cameroonian debut won the Lion of the Future, and five more African projects won support to finish their films.
Key points
- Cameroonian filmmaker Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu’s House of the Wind won the Luigi De Laurentiis “Lion of the Future” award for a debut film at Venice 2026.
- In the Final Cut in Venice programme for films in post-production, DR Congo’s Machérie Ekwa Bahango won the €10,000 La Biennale di Venezia Prize for Madi Makambu.
- Projects from Algeria, Ethiopia, Morocco and Tunisia also won post-production support.
African filmmakers won several awards at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, from a top debut prize to support for films still being finished.
Lion of the Future
Cameroonian director Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu won the Luigi De Laurentiis "Lion of the Future" award for a debut film, for House of the Wind (La Maison du Vent).
Final Cut in Venice
Venice's Final Cut programme supports films from Africa and the Arab world that are in post-production. This year's winners included:
- Machérie Ekwa Bahango (DR Congo), Madi Makambu: the La Biennale di Venezia Prize of €10,000 for the best film in post-production.
- Abraham Gezahagne (Ethiopia), Mehal Sefari: the Coup de Cœur prize from Cinémathèque Afrique.
- Sofia Djama (Algeria), A Quarter to Thursday: post-production services and €5,000 from El Gouna Film Festival.
- Alaa Eddine Aljem (Morocco), Eldorado, the Taste of the South: €5,000 from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
- Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia), Plague: colour correction support and a prize from the Amiens festival.
A strong year
The Venice awards follow Rwanda's Ben'Imana winning the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in May, and come ahead of FESPACO 2027, Africa's biggest film festival.
Sources
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