Quibdó África Film Festival (8)

Festival start: 14 September 2026      Festival end: 18 September 2026

In the 2026 edition of the Quibdó Africa Film Festival, we descend into a profound and resonant space where Africa and its global Diaspora converge under the enigmatic banner of NOIR. This festival is far more than a series of film screenings it is a transformative cultural odyssey featuring immersive workshops, critical dialogues, and artistic exhibitions. It is a journey through shadow and revelation, traversing time from the echoes of the past and the complexities of the present, into the speculative futures waiting to be imagined. This event is not merely about showcasing films; it is about navigating a space that embodies both deep memory and radical representation, a space that compels us to confront our histories and the multitude of identities we inhabit and forge.

The 2026 festival will convene a groundbreaking assembly of visionary Afro-diasporic filmmakers, representing a dynamic artistic vanguard that boldly reconfigures reality through the potent fusion of art, historical reclamation, and speculative fiction. These creators engage in a vital dialogue within this curated cinematic universe, challenging and transcending conventional narratives to illuminate the full spectrum of the Black experience.

At the pulsating core of our 2026 vision lies the afrodisruptive power of NOIR. This cinematic approach is designed to challenge, destabilize, and transform. It is potent, impactful, and intellectually thrilling. It seeks to disrupt the comfort of the status quo, to overturn simplistic narratives and reinvigorate our collective imagination. This revolutionary concept offers a 360-degree reexamination a critical and celebratory reinterpretation of traditions, identities, and futures through a distinctly Black lens.

In essence, the Quibdó Africa Film Festival 2026 is not merely an event; it is a cultural awakening. It is a deliberate plunge into the creative darkness where new light is forged, and a celebration of the relentless, transformative spirit of global Afro cinema and artistry.

In the 2026 edition of the Quibdó Africa Film Festival, the Baobab stands as a profound and enduring symbol, now recontextualized within the deep shadows and illuminating contrasts of NOIR.

This ancient tree, with its roots delving into the unseen and its majestic form sculpted by light and darkness, represents the resilience to thrive within and beyond all borders both visible and invisible. In African cosmovision, the baobab is not only a metaphor for strength and ancestral wisdom but also a sacred space of gathering, where communities converge in the shade to share stories, dissolve boundaries, and generate knowledge under the cover of night and the promise of dawn. Like the Baobab, QAFF 2026 becomes a vital meeting point to explore the chiaroscuro of existence those shades of separation, memory, and identity and to challenge them through collective cinematic creation. This symbol embodies the unbreakable, subterranean connection between Africa and its diaspora, rooted in a resilience that is both historical and creatively futuristic.

This symbolism emerged from our quest to articulate the spiritual and aesthetic bond under the theme of NOIR. It represents the shared mysticism between Africans and Afro-descendants an invisible thread of faith and imagination that transcends geography, blending reality with speculative fiction. For filmmakers across the diaspora, QAFF is more than a festival; it is a confluence where the darkness of the movie theater and the light of the screen invite us to reflect on our collective memory and the legacy we project forward.

International Competition – QAFF 2026 | Official Awards
The Quibdó África Film Festival celebrates Afro-diasporic narratives that challenge the aesthetic, historical, and cultural frontiers of cinema. In its eighth edition, under the sign of NOIR, the international competition honors works of outstanding artistic, technical, and narrative power, recognizing those that masterfully navigate the spectrum between shadow and illumination.

MAIN AWARDS
Gran Premio Baobab – Best Feature Film
The festival’s highest honor. This award celebrates a work that achieves narrative mastery, aesthetic innovation, and profound afrodisruptive power, engaging deeply with the memories, presents, and possible futures of the Afro-descendant world.

Best Director Award (Feature Film)
Awarded for audacious and visionary direction that demonstrates a compelling cinematic language and contributes a unique perspective to the global landscape of Black cinema.

Jury Special Prize – Best Documentary (Feature or Short)
Granted to a documentary that brings silenced or underrepresented realities into the light, handled with ethical rigor, powerful storytelling, and artistic integrity.

Best Experimental Film Award
Recognizes works that defy cinematic conventions through poetic, sensory, or hybrid approaches, expanding the audiovisual language of Afro-diasporic expression within the NOIR aesthetic.

Best Animated Film Award
Dedicated to animation that reimagines storytelling from an afrocentric perspective, using movement, form, and shadow to create culturally innovative narratives.

TECHNICAL AND ARTISTIC AWARDS
Best Cinematography Award
Honors visual artistry that poetically captures the Afro-diasporic experience, mastering the interplay of light, shadow, texture, and tone to enhance the film’s symbolic and emotional depth.

Best Screenplay Award
Celebrates writing that combines narrative depth with a critical and nuanced exploration of social, historical, or identitarian themes relevant to the NOIR concept.

Best Original Soundtrack Award
Recognizes musical composition and sound design that elevate the narrative, evoke memory, and forge a distinctive sonic identity resonant with the festival’s theme.

SHORT FILM AWARDS
Jury Prize – Best Fiction Short Film
Awarded for originality, narrative strength, and bold artistic vision in the short format.

Audience Award – Best Latin American Short Film
Selected by public vote. Includes a professional post-production sound package and the creation of an original soundtrack.

National Competition – QAFF 2026 | Celebrating Afro-Colombian Talent

Arnoldo Palacios “The Stars Are Black” Award
A literary-cinematic prize honoring an Afro-Colombian work of high aesthetic, political, or testimonial value that aligns with the depth of the NOIR theme.

Colombian Film Heritage Award
Awarded to the best Colombian production (fiction or documentary) that uses archival or historical material in a creative and critical way, illuminating the audiovisual memory of Afro-descendant communities.

Sections in Competition – QAFF 2026
We invite filmmakers and producers worldwide to submit to the official competition of the Quibdó África Film Festival. Eligible genres include Fiction, Documentary, Animation, and Experimental works of high artistic merit. While the competition centers and celebrates Afro-descendant creators, it also welcomes filmmakers from all backgrounds whose works offer original, respectful, and insightful perspectives on African and Afro-diasporic realities, particularly through the lens of NOIR.

Short films may also compete for the Distribution Award, dedicated to films currently without international distribution or sales representation.

Since its inception, an esteemed jury of international filmmakers, critics, and cultural practitioners has honored excellence through these awards. The festival stands out for its substantial cash prizes, complemented by in-kind awards across multiple categories, celebrating the vibrancy, strength, and luminous diversity of Black cinema around the world.

FESTIVAL RULES

The candidate must carefully read all the rules
Attention! By submitting your film to the QAFF, you acknowledge that you have read and adhered to the following standards.

• QAFF accepts films and videos made by both filmmakers of African descent and non-African filmmakers (Filmmaker needn't live in Africa). Preferably, films should depict positive or realistic images.

• Films can be of any genre - drama, comedy, horror, adventure, animation, romance, science fiction, experimental, etc. QAFF accepts features and shorts; narratives and documentaries.

• The festival is here to help the general public to discover the creations arising from Africa and his Diaspora. To support the African film industry by facilitating the broadcasting.

• All films that are part of the festival's official selection must comply with a fundamental requirement: to have Spanish subtitles. This requirement not only aims to ensure the accessibility of the content, but also to promote a broader understanding of the works screened for Spanish-speaking audiences.

• QAFF will accept submissions of works in progress. However, your submission must be sufficiently complete to allow our programs to follow the storyline and be able to make a decision. We will only accept one work-in-progress version of your film, so please make sure to make it your best shot. (If you expect your final version to be 90 minutes, a 45 minutes rough cut is probably not acceptable.)


IF MY FILM IS ACCEPTED, WHAT PROJECTION FORMAT WILL QAFF ACCEPT?

• QAFF screening venues are public spaces such as library auditoriums, universities, cultural centers, and open-air locations. The only accepted projection formats for films are digital downloads via links, such as Vimeo or similar platforms.

Resolution: 1920x1080 – recommended | also: 1280x720
- Vidéo : h264 - 1920x1080 - 1,78:1 - CBR - 19MBps
- Audio : AAC - stéréo - 320kbps
- Codec: H.264 | Wrapper: .mp4 / .mov
- Bit Rate: 6/20 Mbps | VBR 2-pass export recommended - subtitles: .srt
For Short Films, you will be asked to submit an online link.

• If there are any updates for projection formats, you will receive them with your acceptance notification.

• QAFF will not accept watermarked films for public display.

• To be eligible for the official selection to compete for the Baobab, your film must be no older than 2 years at the time of the festival. If it meets this criterion, it can be entered into one of the festival's categories.

• Copies of the selected films are kept in the QAFF archives as “memory-copies” for our records.
• QAFF is a non-profit organization sustained by the generous donations of our supporters. As a result, we are unable to cover the accommodation or expenses for directors and other professionals whose work is officially selected during their stay in Quibdó. However, we are more than happy to assist those who wish to attend in finding suitable arrangements.

• The films are under the responsibility of QAFF as soon as they are received.

Our aim is to establish year-round distribution and circulation circuits in Colombia for the films in our official selection, benefiting both directors and producers.