NYFAF - 11th Annual Edition - “Exploring Tamazgha”
Event Description
"The New York Festival of Amazigh Cinema (NYFAF) is back for its 11th edition! Our program for this year features a diverse selection of films from various parts of Tamazgha. The current edition includes eight films, four of which will compete in the best short film category. The festival is also honored to welcome Dr. Brahim El Guabli, a distinguished scholar in Tamazgha Studies, as the guest speaker."
The New York Forum of Amazigh Film showcases cinematic works of the indigenous Amazigh people of North Africa. Every year, international filmmakers, scholars, and artists gather to celebrate the Amazigh lens through screenings, live performances, artist panels, and exhibitions.
The efforts of the festival have been chronicled in "African Film Festivals and Transnational Flows of Living Cultural Heritage," Jadaliyya ("Tankra Tamazight: The Revival of Amazigh Indigeneity in Literature and Art") and in the University of Exeter's Transnational Moroccan Cinema project. The festival creators themselves authored and edited "Amazigh Cinema: An Introduction to North African Indigenous Film" (2025, University of Regina Press,) with contributions by founder Dr. Habiba Boumlik.
Event Dates:
April 23rd
All Day
Location:
Little Theater
Tickets:
Daytime - Free
Evening - Free w/ Suggested Donation
DAYTIME PROGRAM
10:30-12:45 Short Film Competition
Collateral (2025) Yazid Yettou, Algeria, 20 min
A Tuareg village near the Malian border faces unexpected consequences when a drone crashes nearby.
Who Cares About Chimene (2025) Sarah Bouzi, France, 20 min
Chimene is determined to have a great holiday, just like her friends. But suddenly, her parents are leaving for Algeria. What is going on? Chimene keeps asking her two older sisters questions but clearly, nobody cares about Chimene.
Aztta (2024) Boutaina Cheraibi & Nadia Bouhyadi, Morocco, 25 min
Houria, an Amazigh girl torn between schooling and traditional tapestry-making, discovers unsettling truths in her craft.
Blad el Siba (2025) Ro Caminal, Spain/Morocco, 24 min
An experimental documentary tracing colonial legacies and neoliberal control in the Moroccan Rif through women's poetic traditions.
Q&A Brahim El Guabli, a leading scholar in Amazigh studies.
2:00-4:00
Tighrist/Threads of Exile (2025) Samia Dzai'r, Algeria-Saudi Arabia, 3 min
A poetic reflection on weaving, exile, and memory, rooted in Algerian textile traditions.
Zerzura (2017) Christopher Kirkley, Niger, 87 min
A genre-defying "acid Western" following a young man's surreal journey across the Sahara in search of a mythical oasis, blending Tuareg folklore with modern migration themes.
Q&A Brahim El Guabli, Habiba Boumlik, Wafa Bahri, Yahya Laayouni
EVENING PROGRAM
4:00-4:45 Reception
4:45-5:30
Live Music - Gnawa performance by Samir LanGus trio - percussion, saxophone, guimbri, and vocals.
6:00-8:30
Sin Igharassen/Two Ways (2025) Yassine Iguenfer, Morocco, 6 min
Set in 1975, two men confront personal and historical crossroads in southern Morocco.
Animalia (2023) Sofia Alaoui, Morocco, 90 min
Itto, a young Amazigh woman from modest origins, navigates love, family tensions, and societal expectations in the Atlas Mountains, as her pregnancy coincides with mysterious cosmic events.
Q&A Brahim El Guabli, Lucy McNair, Wafa Bahri, Yahya Laayouni