Manchester film festival draws on Mbiti and Ngũgĩ to put pan-African stories on screen
See My World's festival at the Contact theatre on 21 November charges no screening fees and builds on the city's Pan-African Congress legacy.
Manchester — A film festival for independent creators from the African diaspora in the north of England will take place at the Contact theatre in Manchester on 21 November.
The See My World festival builds on the legacy of the 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester, which brought together leaders of the post-war independence movements, after last year's 80th anniversary commemorations.
African philosophies
Tunde Adekoya, See My World's chief executive and artistic director, said the festival draws on pan-African thought, including the Kenyan writers John Mbiti and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Both rejected the colonial idea that African thought was inferior.
"John Mbiti explores the philosophy and spiritual understandings of time through the concept of Sasa na Zamani, in which the past informs everything that happens moving forward," Adekoya said. "That reflects how we constantly go back to pan-African histories to inform how we progress."
Open to all
Film-makers can submit films of up to 30 minutes in any genre, with no screening fees. The festival will also premiere See My World's own documentaries, including Homage, about dance in Manchester, and Poetic Justice, about the city's poetry scene. The day will include exhibitions, performances, Q&As and workshops.
Source: The Guardian, 8 November 2026.
