The Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) has announced the winners of its 2025 competition. This year’s festival, which took place in California from February 4 to 17, featured a lineup of films from 34 countries. Among its winners were several productions from Africa.
Kenyan film Nawi: Dear Future Me, directed by Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler and Tobias Schmutzler took home the PAFF Jury award for Best Narrative Feature, while South African documentary Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa, directed by Tara Moore won Best Documentary Feature.
Other winners included Ugandan-US co-production Memories of Love Returned, directed by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, which won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary, and Tanzania-Germany film The Thoughts of Our Ancestors, directed by Kokutekeleza Musebeni, which won the Ja’net Dubois Festival Award for Best Short Documentary.
Ghanaian film The Fisherman, directed by Zoey Martinson, also received the Ja’net Dubois Festival Award for Feature Narrative.
The awards were presented at PAFF’s Filmmaker Awards Brunch, sponsored by Apple TV+, which took place at Palm Sophia in Culver City, California.
PAFF Executive Director, Oduduwa Olatunji, said: “Each year, PAFF continues to serve as a global stage for Black creatives, and 2025 was no exception. The winning films this year not only pushed artistic boundaries but also reflected the richness and depth of Black storytelling. We are honored to celebrate these visionary filmmakers and their extraordinary work.”
According to the organisers, PAFF is an “Oscars qualifying film festival for the Academy Awards in the categories of Best Short Narrative Film, Best Short Documentary, and Best Animated Short.”
Here’s a full list of the 2025 Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) Winners:
2025 PAFF JURY AWARD WINNERS
- Best Narrative Feature: Nawi: Dear Future Me (Kenya) – Directed by Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler & Tobias Schmutzler
- Best Documentary Feature: Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa (South Africa) – Directed by Tara Moore
- Best First Feature – Narrative: Color Book (US) – Directed by David Fortune
- Best Short Documentary: Can’t Retire From This (US)–Directed by Melanie Page
- Best Short Narrative: Advent (US) – Directed by Rachael Danae Bass
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
- Best Feature Narrative: Til Death…Do You (US)– Directed by Andra Fuller
- Best Feature Documentary: Memories of Love Returned (Uganda/US)– Directed by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine
- Best Short Narrative: For Sale (US)– Directed by Nika King
- Best Short Documentary: The Devil is Busy (US) – Directed by Geeta Gandbhir & Christalyn Hampton
Programmers’ Award Winners
- Short Narrative: Bela LX-404 (Brazil) – Directed by Luiza Botelho
- Short Documentary: Born in the Struggle (US) – Directed by Kamasi Hill
- Feature Documentary: We Want the Funk (US) – Directed by Stanley Nelson
- Feature Narrative: Young King (US) – Directed by Bryant Griffin
JA’NET DUBOIS FESTIVAL AWARD
- Short Documentary: The Thoughts of Our Ancestors (Tanzania/Germany) – Directed by Kokutekeleza Musebeni
- Short Narrative: Run Like We (UK) – Directed by Rhys Aaron Lewis
- Feature Documentary (Tie): Mount Mutombo (UAE/US) – Directed by Dina Khreino and Sountrack to a Coup d’Etat (Belgium/France/Netherlands) – Directed by John Grimonprez
- Feature Narrative: The Fisherman (Ghana) – Directed by Zoey Martinson
