Africafé : Cinema is Not a Luxury: Why African Films Matter

This episode of Africafé examines how African cinema portrays migration and displacement as complex social, political, and economic phenomena shaped by conflict, inequality, and climate pressures. Through the perspective of African filmmakers, it highlights cinema as a powerful, didactic tool that conveys lived migrant experiences and challenges dominant narratives. The discussion underscores recurring themes of hardship, failed journeys, and the myth of opportunity abroad, while also questioning brain drain and the structural roots of migration. Ultimately, African cinema emerges as both a medium of storytelling and a form of social and political engagement.