The best African documentaries to watch right now

Africa's non-fiction directors are doing some of the most formally daring work in world cinema. This is a continent-wide starting point — eight films that reward repeat viewing.

1. #1 · South Sudan · 2022

   No Simple Way Home

   Directed by Akuol de Mabior

   The daughter of Rebecca Nyandeng turns the camera on her family and her country.

2. #2 · Kenya · 2020

   Softie

   Directed by Sam Soko

   Activist Boniface Mwangi runs for office. Politics as family sacrifice.

3. #3 · Ethiopia · 2021

   Faya Dayi

   Directed by Jessica Beshir

   A black-and-white reverie around khat — one of the decade's great essay films.

4. #4 · Lesotho · 2019

   This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection

   Directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

   Hybrid documentary/fiction; a Mosotho widow refuses displacement.

5. #5 · Sudan · 2019

   Talking About Trees

   Directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari

   Four veteran filmmakers try to reopen a cinema in Khartoum. Tender and political.

6. #6 · Chad · 2016

   Hissène Habré, A Chadian Tragedy

   Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

   Survivors confront their torturers. Essential transitional-justice cinema.

7. #7 · South Africa · 2018

   Whispering Truth to Power

   Directed by Shameela Seedat

   Public Protector Thuli Madonsela vs. state capture.

8. #8 · Egypt · 2013

   Cairo Drive

   Directed by Sherief Elkatsha

   Cairo's traffic as a window on the Egyptian street, pre- and post-revolution.