Windhoek International Film Festival

Overview

The Windhoek International Film Festival is Namibia's most important film festival. Founded in 2011 and held annually in Windhoek, Namibia's capital and largest city, the festival presents Namibian and southern African cinema in a nation of extraordinary natural beauty and remarkable cultural complexity.

Namibia's visual landscape -- the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world; the Skeleton Coast; the vast open plains of Etosha -- has made the country one of Africa's most sought-after film locations. The natural environment creates a context for documentary and nature filmmaking of unusual richness.

Namibia's history as a German colonial territory (German South West Africa) and its subsequent decades under South African apartheid rule before independence in 1990 give the country a complex heritage that its cinema is beginning to explore.

Key Sections

• Namibian Film Competition -- new Namibian features and shorts
• Southern African Panorama -- films from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, and neighboring nations
• Nature and Environment Film Program -- films about Namibia's extraordinary landscape
• International Program -- curated international films
• Documentary Program -- nonfiction features

What Filmmakers Should Know

The festival accepts open submissions. For Namibian filmmakers, this is the most important domestic platform. Nature documentary filmmakers will find a particularly receptive context given Namibia's extraordinary wildlife and landscape.

Major Awards

• Best Namibian Film -- jury prize
• Best Southern African Film
• Best Environmental Film
• Audience Award

Festival History

The Windhoek International Film Festival was founded in 2011 and has operated as Namibia's primary film cultural event.

See Also

For southern African cinema, see International Film Markets. For nature documentary, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide.