2026 Sundance Film Festival Unveils African Selections — Nigeria’s Lady & Kenya’s Kikuyu Land Win Spots

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival unveils African selections along with 97 feature and episodic projects, and African cinema is earning notable spotlight alongside a diverse global lineup. The Festival runs January 22–February 1, 2026 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with online access from January 29–February 1. The selection was curated from over 16,000 submissions from 164 countries — underscoring Sundance’s place as a launchpad for bold independent voices worldwide.

Among the films chosen for this year’s Festival, two African-rooted projects are drawing particular industry buzz:

• Lady — Written and directed by Olive Nwosu, this Nigeria–UK co-production lands a coveted spot in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Set against the urban pulse of Lagos, Lady follows a fiercely independent female cab driver whose life shifts dramatically when she reconnects with an old friend and falls into the vibrant but perilous world of Lagos nightlife.

• Kikuyu Land — Directed by Bea Wangondu from Kenya, this documentary is featured in the World Cinema Documentary section. The film follows a Nairobi journalist’s investigation into a land conflict involving local authorities and a multinational corporation, exploring power, memory and community resilience.

Additionally, the Festival lineup includes Antoine Fuqua’s Troublemaker — a co-production spanning South Africa, the United States and the UK — which revisits South Africa’s struggle against apartheid with a score drawn from Nelson Mandela’s own voice recordings.

For African filmmakers — already energised by an expanding global festival circuit — Sundance’s selections represent more than festival entries; they signal international recognition of African storytelling and a platform from which filmmakers can amplify their work to global programmers, distributors and audiences. Sundance’s program remains a critical gateway for films seeking wider release, awards attention, and cross-continental dialogue.

As the Festival approaches, the spotlight on titles like Lady and Kikuyu Land reflects both the diversity of African cinema and its increasing relevance within the broader global film conversation — from world cinema competition to powerful documentary storytelling.