With a little under six months to go before it opens, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) is starting to take shape. On September 24, 2026, Burkina Faso’s Council of Ministers named Togo as guest of honour for the 30th edition. For this anniversary festival, organisers have chosen the theme « African Cinemas and Endogenous Development ».
The Burkinabè government says the choice is meant to « strengthen cultural ties between the two countries » and « promote exchanges among cinema professionals ». For Lomé, it is a valuable showcase. Togolese film production is still small next to the continent’s big industries, and it will now be seen by professionals from across Africa and the diaspora. It will also have a chance to build partnerships.
The theme, unveiled on May 21, sums up the ambition of this edition. Organisers want to present African cinema as a driver of cultural, economic and identity-based development. The goals are to showcase local cultures, promote African languages, create jobs and strengthen cultural sovereignty. This message matches the line taken by Burkina Faso’s transitional authorities, who promote self-reliance and national production in every field.
Behind the scenes, the official selection is moving forward. The selection committee, appointed in February, has twelve members, six women and six men, from several African countries and Brazil. It is now watching the films that have been submitted. Alex Moussa Sawadogo, director general of the Burkinabè Agency for Cinema and Audiovisual (ABCA), which runs the festival, says the members were chosen for « their capacity to screen films, judge them critically and reveal new creators ». It is a big job: the panel has to review up to 2,000 films. Only works produced after FESPACO 2025 that have never been commercially released in Burkina Faso are eligible.
The official competition, open to African and diaspora filmmakers, has six sections: feature fiction, feature documentary, shorts, film school works, series and animation. Outside the competition, the Panorama, Focus, Diversities and Sukabè sections, the last aimed at young audiences, are open to filmmakers from around the world.
The calendar needs checking. Early announcements set a submission deadline of September 20, 2026, and festival dates of February 27 to March 6, 2027. More recent statements, including the Council of Ministers announcement on September 24, now give the festival dates as March 20 to 27, 2027. The call for films page shows a deadline of October 20, 2026. Filmmakers who have not yet submitted may therefore still have a few weeks.
The festival also wants to strengthen its business side. The International Market for African Cinema and Audiovisual (MICA) is set to expand to attract more distributors and international sales agents. The « FESPACO hors les murs » programme will also be extended to towns outside the capital. The aim is clear: to make Ouagadougou a real marketplace for the industry, and not only a big celebration of film.
Expectations are high after the 2025 edition. With « Katanga, la danse des scorpions », Burkinabè director Dani Kouyaté won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the country’s first top prize in twenty-eight years. For its thirtieth edition, the continent’s oldest film festival will have to show that it can celebrate its history while also meeting the economic challenges facing African cinema.
Note before publication: official sources disagree on the festival dates (late February or late March 2027) and on the submission deadline (September 20 or October 20, 2026). Please confirm both with FESPACO.