The Cannes Film Festival is opening up for Africa
In order to mark this event a press conference took place with Artistic Firector of Festival de Cannes Thierry Fremaux, Djia Mambu, journalist and film critic, Okapi Collective / Emmanuel Lupia Assani, producer, Okapi Collective / Théodore Nganzi, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister of Culture and the Arts, representative of the Minister / Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes / Dieudo Hamadi, director, producer and screenwriter, Okapi Collective / Macherie Ekwa, director, producer and screenwriter, Okapi Collective
From October 27 to 29, 2025, Kinshasa welcomed a delegation from the Festival de Cannes. Initiated by the Okapi Films Collective, this visit aimed to support the launch of the Congolese National Film Center. It is part of one of the festival’s core missions: to celebrate international cinema and to continue, throughout the year, meeting those who bring it to life.
Through these actions, the Festival de Cannes continues its commitment to support film industries around the world and to foster intercultural dialogue.Three days of meetings, discussions, and cinema.Several highlights marked this visit. On Tuesday, October 28, a press conference was held in the presence of representatives from the Ministries of Culture and Communication and Media of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Okapi Films Collective, which is working to develop a national film industry, and the Festival de Cannes.
On the same day, the delegation was received at the French Embassy in Kinshasa by Mr. Rémi Maréchaux, Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, alongside some forty professional guests, including members of APRO7, the Association of Professionals of the 7th Art in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The day continued with an evening screening of the 2025 Palme d'or winner, It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi, before a full house.The following day, Thierry Frémaux hosted a meeting at the National Institute of Arts (INA), which is welcoming its first class of film students and now offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in film.
The delegation was then received by Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Minister of Communication and Media, in his office.Presentation of the film It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi, Palme d’Or 2025, by Djia Mambu, journalist & film critic, Okapi Collective, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes © Berclaire’Studio
Thierry Frémaux: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo has all the resources it needs to become a land of cinema.”At the end of these discussions, Thierry Frémaux praised the scope of the initiative undertaken by Congolese professionals, as well as the vitality of Congolese cinema: "The Festival aims to present films from around the world, made by artists rooted in their local realities. We believe it is important to go out and meet them, to talk to the players in the field and to discover emerging cinematic approaches. In Kinshasa, there is a strong sense of creative vitality and a desire to tell the story of the country through film. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has all the resources it needs to become a land of cinema, thanks to the political will that supports this ambition."