Dakar International Film Festival (RECIDAK)

Overview

The Dakar International Film Festival (RECIDAK) is Senegal's most important film festival. Founded in 2010 and held annually in Dakar -- the westernmost capital city in Africa, a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic on the Senegalese coast -- the festival presents West African and international cinema in one of the continent's most celebrated Francophone cultural capitals.

Senegal's cultural legacy is extraordinary relative to its size. The country has produced some of Africa's most internationally celebrated artists, musicians (Youssou N'Dour's global impact), and filmmakers, including Ousmane Sembene, widely considered the father of African cinema. Sembene's work -- including Black Girl (1966), the first feature film made by a sub-Saharan African director to receive international distribution -- established the tradition that the festival honors.

Dakar's energy and its historic connection to the transatlantic slave trade (through the nearby Goree Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) give the city deep resonance for films addressing African diaspora history and identity.

Key Sections

• International Competition -- films competing for jury prizes
• Senegalese Film Program -- new Senegalese features and shorts
• West African Panorama -- films from neighboring nations
• African Cinema Tribute -- celebrating the African cinema tradition
• Documentary Program -- nonfiction features

What Filmmakers Should Know

RECIDAK accepts open submissions. For Senegalese filmmakers, this is the most important domestic platform. The African cinema heritage context creates specific programming resonance for films in the tradition of Sembene and his successors.

Major Awards

• Best Film -- jury prize
• Best West African Film
• Audience Award

Festival History

RECIDAK was founded in 2010 and has operated as Senegal's primary film cultural event.

See Also

For West African cinema, see International Film Markets. For FESPACO, see FESPACO Ouagadougou.