The Nairobi Film Festival is set to open on October 16 at Prestige Cinemas from 5 p.m., kicking off a weeklong celebration of African and global storytelling.
In her remarks about this year’s event, Festival Director Sheba Hirst emphasised the importance of storytelling in the African culture.
“For East Africans, storytelling has always been the cornerstone of our cultural practice, and we are increasingly seeing how that translates into the kinds of films we want to make today,” said Sheba Hirst.
The opening night will feature the critically acclaimed documentary “How to Build a Library”, setting the tone for a festival poised to tackle socially conscious storytelling.
Directed by Kenyan filmmaker Maia Lekow and co-director Christopher King, How To Build A Library made its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received widespread praise for its willingness to inspire change.
Filmed in the heart of Nairobi city, it explores the transformation of Nairobi’s historic Macmillan Memorial Library, a colonial-era landmark built in 1932 for whites only. The documentary follows two central figures, Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka (founders of Book Bunk Trust), as they lead a mission to restore and revive the century-old library.
Capturing the ups and downs of the process, the film offers a moving reflection on how architecture and archives can be redefined for modern Kenya.
Following its grand opening, the Nairobi Film Festival will present a dynamic lineup of feature films, short films, and documentaries from across Africa. This year’s edition emphasises diversity in storytelling, with films exploring themes of identity, migration, love, resilience, and belonging.
Alongside screenings, the festival’s industry program will feature workshops, artist-to-artist conversations, and pitching sessions with international buyers and distributors, creating pathways for Kenyan and African filmmakers to share their stories with a global audience.
“The NBO Film Festival exists to amplify those voices to the rest of the world and to bring them into dialogue with storytellers globally,” added Ms Hirst.
Screenings will take place across select Nairobi cinemas, including Prestige Cinemas, Kaloleni Social Hall and Unseen Nairobi.
