Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI)

Overview

The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (Federation Panafricaine des Cineastes, FEPACI) is a continental nonprofit representing national filmmakers associations across all 54 African countries. Founded in 1969 at a symposium in Algiers and formally established in 1970 in Tunis, FEPACI advocates for African cinema policy, coordinates pan-African co-production infrastructure, and represents African filmmakers in international policy discussions with UNESCO, the African Union, and FIAPF. The organization is structured into 11 regions covering the continent and its diaspora, with headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

FEPACI membership is organizational, not individual. Filmmakers join through their national filmmakers association, which then affiliates with FEPACI. There are no individual membership fees published. The organization operates through regional secretaries who coordinate activities across their territories. The current leadership includes Secretary General Cheick Oumar Sissoko (Mali) and a bureau of regional representatives covering North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and diaspora chapters in North America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Historical Context and Founding

FEPACI emerged from the decolonization era. In July 1969, the Algerian Cinematheque organized a symposium at the Ibn Khaldoun cinema in Algiers, bringing together approximately 40 African filmmakers. The group adopted the Algiers Charter, a document calling for the creation of a pan-African filmmakers organization and a continental film festival. Founding figures included Ousmane Sembene (Senegal), Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (Senegal), Mahama Johnson Traore (Senegal), Tahar Cheriaa (Algeria), Youssef Chahine (Egypt), and Lionel Ngakane (South Africa). Cheriaa was in prison at the time and was released after an international appeal from the assembled filmmakers.

The Algiers Charter was formally affirmed in 1970 in Tunis, at a foundational congress held during the Carthage Film Festival. FEPACI was born from the same political and cultural movement that produced FESPACO, the biennial pan-African film festival in Ouagadougou. The two institutions have been linked since their inception, with FEPACI participating in FESPACO governance and industry programming.

In 2006, FEPACI hosted the first African Film Summit in Tshwane, South Africa, in collaboration with the South African Department of Arts and Culture and the National Film and Video Foundation. The summit brought together industry representatives from across the continent to advocate for an African commission on audiovisual and cinema industries. Following the summit, the FEPACI Secretariat relocated to South Africa from 2006 to 2010 under Secretary General Seipati Bulane Hopa, the first time the secretariat operated outside Burkina Faso.

FESPACO and Continental Film Culture

FEPACI maintains a close operational relationship with FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinema et de la Television de Ouagadougou), the biennial pan-African film festival held in Burkina Faso. FESPACO is the largest and most significant showcase for African cinema on the continent. The 29th edition took place in February 2025, with FEPACI participating as a strategic partner through special screenings, workshops, and masterclasses. FESPACO presents the Etalon de Yennenga (Golden Stallion) as its top prize.

For African filmmakers, a FESPACO selection or award provides credibility within the continental market and signals quality to international distributors and festivals programming African cinema. FEPACI's participation in FESPACO governance connects filmmakers' professional advocacy with the continent's major film showcase, creating a feedback loop between policy work and industry visibility.

African Film Heritage Project

In June 2017, FEPACI signed a formal partnership agreement with UNESCO and Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation to launch the African Film Heritage Project (AFHP). The project's mission is to locate, restore, and preserve 50 African films of historical, cultural, and artistic significance. The partnership also includes the Cineteca di Bologna, which handles physical restoration work at its L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.

Restored films to date include Med Hondo's Soleil O (1970, Mauritania), Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina's Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975, Algeria, the first African film to win the Palme d'Or), Timite Bassori's Woman with a Knife (1969, Ivory Coast), and Jean-Pierre Dikongue Pipa's Muna Moto (1975, Cameroon). The AFHP also conducted a continental survey of film archives across 54 countries to assess preservation infrastructure, which remains underdeveloped in most African nations.

FEPACI's broader archival initiative, the African Archival Project, aims to bring together archivists from all 54 countries to share knowledge, assess holdings, and build preservation infrastructure. The project addresses the acute vulnerability of African film elements to climate damage, neglect, and political instability. FEPACI has also advocated for the creation of the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission under the African Union and the Cinematheque Africaine of Ouagadougou, both of which were established through its policy work.

Industry Challenges and Advocacy

African film industries face structural challenges that FEPACI's advocacy targets. Most African countries have minimal theatrical infrastructure. Nigeria, despite producing the world's second-highest volume of films by output (Nollywood), has fewer than 50 functioning cinema screens for a population of over 220 million. Distribution networks for African films within the continent are weak, with most African films rarely crossing regional borders theatrically. Public film funding systems exist in fewer than 10 African countries, and most operate with limited budgets.

The growth of streaming platforms has created new distribution pathways. Netflix has invested in African original content since 2020, including series like King of Boys: The Return (Nigeria) and films like Anikulapo (Nigeria). Amazon Prime Video and Showmax (MultiChoice) have also expanded African content acquisition. FEPACI monitors these developments and advocates for policies that ensure African filmmakers retain creative control and fair compensation in streaming deals.

Nollywood operates on a fundamentally different model from the arthouse tradition FEPACI historically represents. Nollywood's direct-to-video and streaming output model, with production budgets typically ranging from $25,000 to $150,000, contrasts with the festival-circuit and theatrical model that FEPACI's founding generation built. The relationship between these two traditions is an ongoing conversation within African cinema policy.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For international producers seeking African co-production partners, FEPACI provides a starting point for identifying national filmmakers associations in specific countries. Co-production requirements, tax incentive structures, and production infrastructure vary enormously across the continent. South Africa offers a 25% production rebate for foreign productions spending at least 12 million ZAR locally. Morocco has positioned itself as a major international production hub with its 30% cash rebate. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal have growing production sectors but less formalized incentive structures. FEPACI's national member associations can provide territory-specific guidance on local requirements, crew availability, and regulatory frameworks.

For African filmmakers, FEPACI membership through a national association provides access to continental advocacy, FESPACO industry programming, and the African Film Heritage Project network. The organization's 11-region structure means filmmakers in diaspora communities (North America, Caribbean, Europe) also have regional representation through FEPACI's diaspora secretaries.

For filmmakers working with African archival material or restoration projects, the African Film Heritage Project provides a framework for identifying and accessing restored African cinema. The project's continental survey of archives is the most comprehensive resource available for understanding the state of film preservation across the 54 countries.

See Also

For the major pan-African film festival, see FESPACO Awards in this directory. For African theatrical distributors, see FilmOne Nigeria and Ster-Kinekor in this directory. Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to estimate production costs for African co-productions.