Khouribga: Burkinabe nationals Fran§ois Akouabou Adianaga and Abraham Bayili are set to lead the juries for the African Festival Prize and the African Film Critics Prize, respectively, at the 25th edition of the Khouribga International African Film Festival. This event is scheduled to take place from June 21 to June 28.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the festival's official jury will be chaired by Rwandan director Jo«l Karekezi, who is recognized for his achievement at the 26th edition of FESPACO in 2019. The jury will comprise notable individuals from the arts and cinema sectors, including Moroccan filmmaker Mohamed Ahde Bensouda, Malian actress and journalist Som© Fatoumata Coulibaly, Central African Republic's Sylviane Gboulou Mbapondo, and Senegalese filmmaker Clarence Thoms Delgando.
The press release from the FICAK Foundation highlights that the African Festivals Award will be chaired by Fran§ois Akouabou Adianaga, who heads the festival department at FESPACO. The award jury will include Sylvie Nwet from Cameroon and Diaw Djibril from Mauritania. Meanwhile, the African Film Critics Award, chaired by Abraham Bayili, will see participation from Pierre Patrick Touko and Yasmine Bouchraf.
The festival will also feature a jury for the short film competition led by Moroccan film critic Bilal Mermid. The panel includes Chadian actor Youssouf Djaoro and Diara Moulidy from Mali. The African Film Club Awards will be chaired by Tunisia's Saber BenR'houma, with Rachid Zaki from Morocco and Daniel Atachali from Togo.
A total of fifteen films from twelve countries will compete in the feature film category, while fifteen short films from thirteen countries will compete in their respective category. The festival will award six prizes, including the Grand Prix named after Ousmane Sembene and other notable figures in the African film industry.
Organizers have themed this year's festival "From the griot to the algorithm, cinema is evolving," featuring a conference on cinema's relationship with artificial intelligence. The guest of honor is Mauritania.
The Khouribga International African Film Festival was established in 1977 by the late Moroccan filmmaker Noureddine Sal, following the creation of FESPACO. In honor of Sal's contributions, a special prize was created at FESPACO, which includes a post-production grant awarded to the film "Broken Drums" by Marcelin Bossou from Togo.