Ngano Shorts: Short Film Program

A modern-day couple takes us behind the scenes of the dating world in 1992 Nairobi. 

With the HIV & AIDS stigma on the rise in the year 1992  Nairobi, we are immersed into a world of a couple about to step out for a night out in town. The evening is shaken up when the man, Jackso finds pills that his long-term girlfriend Beth, has been taking without his knowledge; pills that the hospital he works for distributes to sex workers. Unspoken truths surface in their ultra-cation exposing the cracks in the foundation of their relationship. 

Duration 10mins 50seconds
Language English
Country of Origin Australia

Alkebulan is a poetic and experimental short film that traces the spiritual journey of African men reconnecting with their ancestral roots. Told through a series of visual rich vignettes, the film explores themes of identity, brotherhood, generational trauma, love, rage, healing, and rebirth. 

Through surreal imagery, haunting soundscapes, and a powerful fusion of performance and portraiture, Alkebulan moves from the internal chaos of fractured identity to a profound state of clarity and self-possession. Each chapter offers a meditation on the complexities of Black masculinity, its strength, its silence, its tenderness, all rooted in nature, ritual, and memory.  

Set against the backdrop of land, water, spirit, and shadow, Alkebulan is a visual prayer for reconnection, resilience, and reawakening.

Duration 12mins 23seconds
Language English
Country of Origin Australia

A Black man wakes up to find that the consequences of his actions have caught up to him.

Duration 8mins 8seconds
Language English
Country of Origin Australia

As Mark attempts to get over Malaika. He acquires the latest innovation in artificial intelligence Uganda has to offer to help him through the post-breakup blues but he’s in for a wild ride. Karen is a highly intelligent and adaptive assistant with multiple Ugandan dialects and she is not on his side. Mark does not get the solace he seeks rather a constant train of blatant disrespect and roasting from a robot the size of his fist. 

This is the classic ‘AI-gone-rogue’ story but instead of the entire human race being at stake, it is one Mark’s peace and sanity in this comedy playing on what artificial intelligence is today and provoking the audience to think of what it could become.

Duration 7mins
Language English, Luganda
Country of Origin Uganda

In 1994, Fatine, a 17-year-old girl, lives in Azemmour, Morocco, with her mother Nadia, a chikha by profession, as well as with her grandfather. Having finished high school, she is torn between two opposing paths: either perpetuate the family artistic tradition or lead a more ordered life with her boyfriend Youssef, who rejects her
sulphurous artistic heritage. As deeply in love with Youssef as with the artistic heritage of Aïta, she has to decide on the direction of her life to fulfill herself. An unforeseen ultimatum forces her to make a radical decision.

Duration 25mins
Language Arabic – Moroccan dialect
Countries of Origin France/Morocco

Director Zahoua Raji, Ayoub Layoussifi
Screenplay Yamina Zarou, Ayoub Layoussifi
Photography Xavier Castro
Sound Said Tawil
Editing Mehdi Lachhab
Soundtrack Sanae Gueddar (Aïta patrimoine marocain)
Production David AZOULAY – Hapax Productions (France), Najib DERKAOUI – Cine Scene International (Marocco)

Cast
Rita Kribi – Fatime
Sanae Gueddar – Nadia
Youssef – Oussama Fal
Hatim Seddiki – Hassan
Hassan Boudour – Grandfather Hamid

An old man arrives in Lomé from Paris to see his grandson. On his way to the airport, he decides to board a very dilapidated taxi… driven by a strange taxi driver. 

But this man turns out to be more than just a “taxi driver”… 

Duration 2mins 34seconds
Language French
Country of Origin Togo

A couple has an argument when a mosquito enters their room, adding an extra problem to their relationship. However, the little mosquito turns out to be the key to solving their big issue.

Duration 5mins
Language Silent
Country of Origin Egypt

A Film by Ahmad Emad khalifa
Writer Ahmad Emad Khalifa
Executive Producer Ahmad Emad Khalifa
Co-producer Saad Hindawy – Bahaa El Gamal
D.O.P Basem Saad El Deen
Editor Mahmoud Orabi 

In a mesmerizing visual journey, the film explores the deep connection between humanity and Mother Earth, calling us to reconnect with nature and live in harmony with its cosmic rhythms. 

Duration 2mins 3seconds
Language Arabic (With English Subtitles)
Country of Origin Egypt