Nairobi Film Festival (NBO Film)

Overview

The Nairobi Film Festival is Kenya's most important film festival. Founded in 2008 and held annually in Nairobi -- East Africa's largest city, the continent's major tech hub, and the gateway to Kenya's extraordinary wildlife reserves -- the festival presents East African and international cinema in one of Africa's most cosmopolitan cities.

Nairobi's identity as East Africa's financial, diplomatic, and creative capital -- home to the UN Environment Programme headquarters and a thriving startup and technology community known as Silicon Savannah -- creates an audience that is internationally connected and media sophisticated. The city's extraordinary proximity to the Maasai Mara and other wildlife reserves gives it unusual natural heritage alongside its urban energy.

Kenyan cinema has been developing steadily, and the festival serves as the most important platform for Kenyan filmmaking alongside broader East African content.

Key Sections

• International Competition -- films competing for jury prizes
• Kenyan Film Program -- new Kenyan features and shorts
• East African Panorama -- films from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and neighboring nations
• Documentary Program -- nonfiction features
• Short Film Competition -- competitive short programs

What Filmmakers Should Know

The festival accepts open submissions. For Kenyan filmmakers, this is the most important domestic international platform. The East African Panorama creates regional connections across the growing East African creative economy.

Major Awards

• Best Film -- jury prize
• Best Kenyan Film
• Best East African Film
• Audience Award

Festival History

NBO Film was founded in 2008 and has operated as Kenya's primary film cultural event.

See Also

For East African cinema, see International Film Markets. For ZIFF Zanzibar, see Zanzibar International Film Festival.