The 33rd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) returns to New York City from Saturday, Nov. 29, to Dec. 14, 2025, with a powerful and essential lineup of more than 70 films from more than 30 countries.
ADIFF, founded in 1993, strives to expand traditional perspectives by showcasing socially relevant, award-winning films created by and about people of color, spanning locations from Peru to Zimbabwe, the USA to Belgium, and New Zealand to Jamaica. Its mission is to foster dialogue by blending groundbreaking new voices with classic films.
ADIFF said in-person screenings will be held at key New York venues, including Teachers College, Columbia University; Cinema Village; and The Lenfest Center for the Arts.
“During the festival, audiences will have the opportunity to engage directly with the filmmakers and gain insight into the creative and cultural inspirations behind select films,” ADIFF said.
For audiences who cannot attend in person, ADIFF announced that it will host a Mini Virtual Festival, featuring 20 films available to stream nationwide across the US and Canada.
The in-person festival opens on Saturday, Nov. 29, with a VIP Reception and the New York Premiere of The Dutchman, a modern, surreal psychological thriller adaptation of Amiri Baraka’s explosive 1964 play, setting the tone for a diverse schedule. This marks the start of ADIFF’s Opening Night Film event.
The screening will be followed by a moderated Q&A with director Andre Gaines and Rolling Out journalist Derrell Johnson.
Closing Night Film: ADIFF closes with the VIP reception and New York Premiere of Fanon, a powerful biographical drama tracing Martiniquan psychiatrist Frantz Fanon’s formative years in 1950s Algeria. Director Jean-Claude Barney joins ADIFF for a Q&A after the screening.
Centerpiece Screening: The festival highlights the unique history of the African Diaspora in India with the NY Premiere of Rhythm of Dammam.
“This powerful drama focuses on the Siddi community, whose family rituals and traditional Dammam music are used to address inter-generational trauma,” ADIFF stated.
Filmmaker Spotlight: ADIFF said it will host a special event and conversation with trailblazing director Leslie Harris, following a screening of the restored version of her landmark 1992 film, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
ADIFF said Harris will discuss her role as one of the first Black women to write, direct, and produce a theatrically released feature film.
Gala Screenings: The lineup also includes Gala screenings of festival standouts such as Sugar Island (Dominican Republic), a bold portrayal of identity and struggle that premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and the US Premiere of the Moroccan thriller The Ants.
Silenced Voices: Cinema and Censorship: “This crucial program revisits critical films once banned or suppressed for challenging political, religious, or moral norms,” ADIFF said.
It said featured titles include the earliest surviving feature by Oscar Michaux, Within Our Gates (1920), which was censored due to its raw scenes of racial violence, and Uptight by Jules Dassin (1968), which was suppressed for its sympathetic portrayal of Black militants.
ADIFF announced that a Censorship and Cinema panel, featuring legal scholar Tanya Katerí Hernández, will be held on Friday, Dec. 12.
The festival features a broad range of films, including seven New York premieres from FESPACO, bringing acclaimed selections from major international festivals to local audiences.
ADIFF said FESPACO is widely regarded as one of the largest and most important film festivals in Africa.
“FESPACO is widely regarded as the mythical center of the Pan-African film universe and is the largest and most important film festival on the continent,” ADIFF said.
Among those is the gripping moral thriller Diya, the Price of Blood (Chad), a film that also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), ADIFF stated.
It stated that the Francophone selection, supported by the OIF and the Québec Government Office, highlights films from Canada, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Belgium, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Guadeloupe.
ADIFF stated that other films of note include the Afro-Brazilian historical epic Malês: The Revolt, a journey of resistance set in 1835 Salvador, and the urgent drama The Song of the Rifles (Burkina Faso), which follows a 12-year-old forced into rebel ranks amid a civil war, charting his desperate fight to reclaim his humanity.
Senior Program – Seniors across New York City will have the opportunity to attend a free community screening of Who in the Hell is Regina Jones on Dec. 3 at Teachers College, Columbia University, expanding accessibility to cultural experiences for all ages.
