NBO Film Festival has announced its seventh edition, set to run from October 15 to 25, 2026, across four venues in Nairobi—Prestige Plaza, Unseen Cinema, Kaloleni Social Hall and Alliance Française Nairobi—according to a press release dated September 2, 2026.
The organisers said the 2026 festival will combine public screenings with community programmes, “City Dialogues” and filmmaker conversations, positioning the event as part of Nairobi’s broader cultural calendar. The programme will operate under the theme “Cinema for Us,” which the festival describes as a push for African audiences to access and experience African films locally.
The announcement comes as Kenya’s film and creative economy continues to broaden, with festivals and industry platforms increasingly serving as routes for distribution, networking and project development. For Nairobi, a multi-venue festival format can drive foot traffic for host sites and offer local filmmakers additional routes to reach audiences and engage potential partners, including regional and international industry players.
According to the press release, the festival will expand its competitive slate to three juried competitions. It will retain the Fiction Feature Film Competition and add two new categories: the Nick Wambugu Prize for Documentary and a Short Film Fiction competition.
The festival said it will announce the competition jury chairs on September 4, followed by competition selections on September 7.
Mbithi Masya, Artistic Director of NBO Film Festival, said the theme is designed to centre local audiences in African cinema’s growth. “Cinema for us means creating a space where audiences can discover, celebrate and engage with the stories being made across Africa and beyond,” Masya said. “We want this festival to be part of Nairobi’s public life and a place where people come together to experience cinema, exchange ideas, recognise excellence and imagine what comes next.”
For the first time, the festival will also mount a filmmaker retrospective, dedicated to Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis, with Gomis expected to attend both audience and industry events. The retrospective is supported by EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture), the organisers said. The full retrospective line-up is scheduled to be revealed on September 9, followed by the announcement of the festival’s opening film and major Special Presentations on September 10.
Beyond programming for audiences, the festival said it will expand its industry programme, aimed at connecting filmmakers and professionals through the NBO Project Showcase, creative labs and professional exchanges. Such platforms can influence deal-making and co-production pipelines in East Africa by giving projects visibility earlier in development and widening access to mentors, financiers and commissioning editors.
In a timeline shared by the organisers, the festival trailer and ticket sales are set to launch on September 12, with the complete programme and screening schedule expected on September 14.
The organisers have not disclosed ticket prices, sponsorship figures or projected attendance in the press release. Key near-term milestones include the publication of competition selections, retrospective details and the opening-film announcement ahead of the October event.