Accra, Ghana. Ghanaian filmmaker Nana (title of respect for elders) Kwaw Ansah received the Nana Abibifahodie Kamau Kambon Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Black Liberation Cinema at the 2026 Abibitumi Abibifahodie Film Festival (AAFF). Held on 16 and 17 October, the festival combined online screenings with an in-person awards ceremony.
Hosted by Kafui Dey, the ceremony at the Exhibition Hall of the National Theatre in Accra recognised Nana Kwaw Ansah’s contribution to cinema alongside work by filmmakers exploring cultural memory, identity, family and the creative possibilities of new media.
The star-studded gathering drew leading figures from traditional leadership, cinema, music, diplomacy and academia. Guests included Nana Nketsia V, Ɔmanhen of Essikado; Nana Kwasi Osew, Ɔsompahene, representing the Ɔmanhen of Akuapem; H.E. Fidelia Graand-Galon, Suriname’s Ambassador to Ghana; and Kevoy Burton, President of the Ghana Caribbean Association.
Also in attendance were Kafui Danku-Pitcher, Executive Secretary of Ghana’s National Film Authority; Henry Herbert Malm, Executive Director of the National Theatre; highlife and Simigwa musician Gyedu-Blay Ambolley; veteran filmmaker Nii Kwate Owoo; media personality Ivy Prosper; Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour of SIC; and actor Adjetey Anang, who introduced Nana Kwaw Ansah.
The academic community was represented by Professor Samuel Manasseh Yirenkyi, Rector of the Institute of Film and Television at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC); artist and scholar Dr Sela Adjei, Head of the institute’s Department of Multimedia and Design; and Dr Joseph Aketema, a lecturer at the institute. Together with the filmmakers and cultural figures in attendance, they underscored the festival’s connections across creative practice, education and cultural diplomacy.
Other guests included painter Larry Otoo; Professor Daniel Sakyi, Director of the Centre for Cultural and African Studies (CeCASt) at KNUST; Dr Charles Prempeh, a Research Fellow at CeCASt; Dr Gertrude Aba Mansah Eyifa-Dzidzienyo, a University of Ghana archaeology and heritage scholar and museum curator; and film production accountant and controller Tanoa Parks.
Presented by Abibitumi and the Decade of Our Repatriation initiative, the festival connected its film programme with a wider commitment to Black self-representation and cultural continuity. Its theme, “Kemet for the Kemetyu: At Home and Abroad” (Kemet ‘Black Land’; Kemetyu ‘Black People’), placed the relationship between people on the continent and in the diaspora at the centre of the gathering.
The festival’s founder and executive director is Ɔbenfo ‘Professor’ Ọbádélé Bakari Kambon, Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies. The names Abibitumi ‘Black Power’ and Abibifahodie ‘Black Liberation’ express the cultural purpose behind the platform.
In his opening remarks on day one, Kambon described AAFF as “the Blackest film festival.” Looking ahead to Nana Kwaw Ansah’s honour, he emphasised that “we have to give our elders their flowers while they are still here.”
Nana Kwaw Ansah’s Heritage Africa featured in the opening-night programme. Nana Kwaw Ansah participated in Saturday’s fireside chat. The festival’s online format also gave audiences access to filmmaker conversations, short films, documentaries and an exploration of artificial intelligence in storytelling.
During Saturday’s fireside conversation, Nana Kwaw Ansah encouraged emerging filmmakers with a clear reminder: “Africa has a story to tell.” Asked what he still wanted to see on screen, he called for greater awareness of the problems facing Africa, describing that work as “a journey that engages all of us to take it very seriously.”
The festival’s esteemed jury members were actor and producer Ama K. Abebrese, Frank Mawuli Dagadu of UniMAC, and acclaimed cinematographer Abraham Haile Biru. Their expertise brought perspectives from screen performance, film education and cinematography to the recognition of Black filmmaking.
The festival recognised the following works:
• Best Student Film: On Our Skin, by Abiodun Udom and Emmanuel Adejo.
• Best Short Film: Ring Shout — Let the Circle Be Unbroken, by Olúbáyọ̀ Jackson.
• Best AI Film: Again: A Sankɔfa Journey, by Bakari Ọbatayé Kwento and Niara Ọmọlará Ìjèawelē Kwento.
• Best Feature Film: Manners Will Take You Places Money Won’t, by Cashawn Myers and Sheree R. Swann.
• Special Recognition — Jury Award: jointly awarded to Crown or Class, by Kwaku Sikahene-Adarkwa, and Make It Black, by Bakari Ọbatayé Kwento and Niara Ọmọlará Ìjèawelē Kwento.
Sankɔfa ‘Return and Retrieve’, invoked in the AI film’s title, also reflected the festival’s attention to memory and renewal. The awards placed student filmmaking, short-form storytelling, feature documentary work and AI-assisted production within the same conversation about who creates and circulates Black images. Nana Kwaw Ansah’s lifetime recognition connected that contemporary work with an established Ghanaian filmmaking legacy.
The Decade of Our Repatriation links cultural work with the return and reconnection of Black people across the world.
Full festival replays, including the awards ceremony, are available through the official festival website. The 2026 photographs provide a visual record of the people, performances and conversations that formed the gathering.
Festival information and photographs: https://filmfestival.abibifahodie.orgReplays: https://filmfestival.abibifahodie.org/replay
