East Africa at TIFF 2026: Kenya-Set ‘Call Me Queen’ in Market Screenings, Rwanda’s ‘Ben’Imana’ in Centrepiece Programme

East Africa will have a presence at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), running from 10–20 September, through Rwanda’s Ben’Imana and the Kenya-set international co-production Call Me Queen, which will screen in the Centrepiece programme and Market Screenings, respectively.

Ben’Imana, the debut feature by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, made history as the first film by a Rwandan director to premiere in the Cannes Official Selection at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May 2026. It went on to win the prestigious Caméra d’Or and the FIPRESCI Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics.

A decade in the making, Ben’Imana follows a woman confronting painful memories while navigating conversations between survivors and the families of perpetrators. She is forced to confront her own moral ambiguity when her daughter becomes pregnant.

The film stars Clémentine U. Nyirinkindi, Isabelle Kabano, Kesia Kelly Nishimwe, Leocadie Uwabeza, Antoinette Uwamahoro and Aime Valens Tuyisenge.

TIFF marks Ben’Imana’s North American premiere alongside Nigeria’s Clarissa, directed by Arie and Chuko Esiri and screening in Special Presentations, and Central African Republic-DRC co-production Congo Boy (directed by Rafiki Fariala) and France-Chad co-production Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars (directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun) – both part of the Centrepiece programme.

Call Me Queen, a Kenya-Germany-UK-France co-production, heads to Market Screenings at the inaugural TIFF: The Market, running from 8–16 September, starting two days ahead of the main festival.

Set in Nairobi in the late 1990s, Call Me Queen follows the bond between a Rwandan woman and an Irish journalist as they take on powerful pharmaceutical companies at the heart of the AIDS crisis.

Adapted from Lara Santoro’s 2007 novel Mercy, the film is directed by German-born, French-Iranian filmmaker Emily Atef (More Than Ever).

Rwandan-French actress Eliane Umuhire (A Quiet Place: Day One) leads Call Me Queen alongside Irish actress Denise Gough (Andor). Dominic West (The Crown), Danny Sapani (The Diplomat), Nice Githinji (Subterranea), Michelle Tiren (Nawi) and Helen Keli (Lazizi) also star.

Call Me Queen’s TIFF Market Screenings come ahead of its theatrical releases in Germany on 15 October and Kenya on 30 October.

Other African titles at TIFF include Future Tense (South Africa/Australia – Centrepiece), The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (Nigeria – Centrepiece), The Smell of Apples (South Africa/Netherlands/Chile – Platform), Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and the Burdens of Excess (Ghana – Discovery), and the shorts The Spectacular Death of Prisca (Nigeria – Short Cuts) and The Day I Smoked a Cigarette with My Father (Egypt/France/Belgium – Short Cuts), all making their world premieres.

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