PANEL: New Voices, New Forms – The African Documentary Today
Aula der KHM Ticketshop
Healing is the quiet centre of this year’s programme – not as a final destination, but as an open, often contradictory process. This panel brings together filmmakers from the festival selection to explore what it means to heal through cinema: for those who make films, for the people whose lives are portrayed on screen, and for the audiences who engage with them. How can films create spaces where grief, resistance, and hope can coexist? From music and rituals to protest and documentary testimony, the guests discuss the camera as a tool for engagement, listening, and healing—and the role cinema can play in times of social and political crisis.
With Patience Nitumwesiga, Fradique & Khalid Shamis
PANEL: New Voices, New Forms – The African Documentary Today , englische OF, 90 min
Guests
She has worked as a freelance curator for the Cambridge African Film Festival and the Festival do Rio. She was co-director and curator of the African film festival UHURU in Rio de Janeiro and programmer for Film Africa in London. She has been a member of the Berlinale Selection Committee since 2023 and is curator of the AFFK.
Zipporah (Zippy) Nyaruri is a director, producer, and emerging filmmaker best known for her project TRUCK MAMA. The film had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2025 and its international premiere in competition at the Red Sea International Film Festival. Her other works include MAMA EMERRE and ZEBU AND THE PHOTO FISH, which have been screened at renowned film festivals such as the Durban International Film Festival, FESPACO, and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Nyaruri holds a Master's degree in Film and Photography Studies. Through her work, she is establishing herself as an important voice in African documentary and auteur cinema.
Gaël Kamilindi, originally from Rwanda, graduated from the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Paris in 2011. He has worked with renowned theatre directors including Bob Wilson, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Ivo van Hove, and Thomas Ostermeier, as well as filmmakers such as Mélanie Laurent and Catherine Corsini. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Comédie-Française troupe. In 2024, he co-directed his first feature-length documentary, DIDY, with François-Xavier Destors. The film screened at major international festivals, including Visions du Réel, IDFA, and FESPACO, and received several awards. From 2021 to 2024, he also co-directed the self-produced experimental trilogy Les resquilleurs. His latest short film, TAXI MOTO, won the Teddy Award for Best Short Film at the 2026 Berlinale.
Bassem Ben Brahim is filmmaker, audiovisual artist, and animator. He holds a Master’s degree in Research in Cinema and a Professional Master’s in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies from the École Supérieure de l’Audiovisuel et du Cinéma de Gammarth, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Image Design from the Institut Supérieur des Beaux-Arts de Nabeul. He has directed several queer-focused films, including the doc-animation NIDHAL, the documentary MAGHREB’S HOPE, and his most recent animated short FROM MALE TO FEMALE. His work combines documentary, 2D animation, and stop-motion to explore gender, sexuality, and queer identities in the Maghreb and MENA region.