Shorts Series 2: African Film Festival Atlanta 2025

The African Film Festival Atlanta, now in is 4th year screens a series of Shorts 2 themed "Echoes of the Mind"

Through evocative narratives and profound documentaries, Echoes of the Mind delves into the intricacies of identity, memory, and self-discovery. These films challenge perceptions, explore cultural legacies, and highlight personal and collective resilience.

Kenya| 26 minutes 9 seconds

Juliana, a young mother, is pushed to the edge by the daily struggle of life in Nairobi. When her support system crumbles over the course of one day, she must decide whether she is able to care for her young child.

Winner Best Short Film at the Mashariki African Film Festival. Best short film at the Mombasa International Film Festival and best short film at theLuxor African Film Festival
Get a taste of the film by watching the

Eric Mwangi is a Cinematographer and Director with filmmaking experience in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. His goal is to bring an African perspective to the global pool of life-changing stories, thereby contributing to the expansion of the African Cinema language. His stories focus on ordinary characters with unique drive and faced with impossible odds who are pushing the boundaries to create systemic change for the benefit of all.

His projects range from Documentaries, TV commercials and brand films to short films and feature films, working through production houses such as Zero Point Zero Productions [New York], Zeleman Productions [Ethiopia], YCF Productions [Zambia], Docubox [Kenya], One Fine Day Films and LBX Africa [Kenya], Skoll Foundation [USA], Freestyle Media [Kenya] among others.

Some of his career highlights include filming for the National Geographic Explorer Series on the ongoing Rhino Resurrection episode with Ami Vitale and Taylor Rees; Cinematography for the acclaimed Zambian TV drama UBUNTU, a first from that country on Showmax; a Netflix sizzle reel with Academy Award-Winning Director Roger Ross Williams; Emmy Award-Winning Documentary TV Show Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown; among others. He is also an alumnus of the American Film Showcase documentary residency at USC, California.

United States of America, Uganda| 11 minutes 42 seconds

Rachel Namudosi is a third generation Jewish Ugandan, and she is the lead singer of her very musical family. This film follows Rachel through her hectic daily life as she takes her four children to school, makes music with her family, and leads Shabbat (sabbath) services at her synagogue. Along the way, Rachel shares her moving story with us: the painful antisemitism she experienced as a girl, how her community overcame religious tensions by creating inclusive schools, and her optimistic take on the Abayudaya’s relationship to Israel.

Get a taste of the film by watching thetrailer

Peter Decherney is an award-winning fine art photographer, filmmaker, and author. He holds the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Chair in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is Professor of Cinema & Media Studies and Director of the Penn Global Documentary Institute. His photographs of global Jewish communities have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and universities, and his first book of photography, ENDLESS EXODUS: THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE IN ETHIOPIA is forthcoming. His films include the multiple award-winning IS IT BECAUSE I’M A GIRL?, the virtual reality series THE HEART OF PUERTO RICO, and the Discovery+ Original DREAMING OF JERUSALEM. Peter has been an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scholar, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and a U.S. State Department Arts Envoy to Myanmar. He is also an award-winning teacher, whose open online course on the history of Hollywood has enrolled more than 80,000 learners.

Sierra Leone| 14 minutes 59 seconds | Director :Lansana Mansaray

On the day that Lansana Mansaray was born, a tree was planted in his name in his father’s Limba village. Now an Emmy and Peabody nominated filmmaker, Mansaray returns to the same village to better understand the essential relationship that Limbas share with the trees that define every aspect of community life.

Get a taste of the film by watching the

Lansana Mansaray (Limba) is a Freetown-based director of photography, musician, and Emmy and Peabody Award nominated filmmaker. His most recent feature documentary, THE NEW BOATS, explores the lives of local fishermen from the Freetown Peninsula whose livelihoods and family legacies are threatened by the growing presence of industrial Asian trawlers that overfish the waters off West Africa.

In 2018, Mansaray co-directed and co-produced SURVIVORS, which explored the complexity of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and the socio-political turmoil that lay in its wake. SURVIVORS became the first West African film to receive an Emmy nomination. Prior to Survivors, Mansaray worked as a cinematographer on DECISIONS; GIRL RISING; THEY ARE WE; and MEET THE AFRICANS: MANY RIVERS TO CROSS, which received a Primetime Emmy.

He is a founder and production manager of WeOwnTV at the Freetown Media Center. A collaborative media project that promotes self-expression and community engagement, WeOwnTV provides local filmmakers with intensive media production training and professional development. Through WeOwnTV, Mansaray has collaborated and worked extensively with international organizations, including British Council, US Embassy Freetown, Generation Africa, UNICEF, Defence for Children International.

In 2020, Mansaray was awarded Admiral of the Humber by the mayor of Hull City (UK) in recognition of outstanding achievement in filmmaking.

QUIET CONTEMPLATIONS (2024) explores the thought processes of juggling an occupation fuelling consumerism whilst desiring to be of more value stewarding and sustaining the land.

Get a taste of the film by watching the

Jeremy Owusu-Ansah Boateng is a director of Ghanaian heritage. His main focus whilst story-telling is to highlight depth and substance as well the subtle spiritual elements of life.

Nigeria | 28 minutes 13 seconds

NINA FISCHER-STEPHAN’S RESPECTFUL GAZE explores the nexus of photography, architecture, and urban development, delving into the cultural and political implications of colonial and post-independence images of Africa. It sheds light on how these images, strategically displayed, evoke diverse memories at historical intersections.

Get a taste of the film by watching the

Mallam Mudi Yahaya (*1968 in Kano) is a Nigerian visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, archivist, writer and curator. He lives and works in Lagos.

United States of America| 25 minutes

When five Black lawyers set out on their journeys to receive a professional legal education, they did not realize that they would have to struggle against additional battles even more challenging than the rigors of learning the law in a hypercompetitive environment. They discover the contradictions of studying in an institution that idealistically represents "justice" for all.

Best short documentary at the Paris International Film Awards, Hollywood South Urban Film Festival, Stockholm City Film Festival, Montreal International Black Film Festival, and
best documentary film at the Huntington Beach Cultural Cinema Showcase

Get a taste of the film by watching the trailer

Evangeline M. Mitchell is a lawyer, author and publisher, social entrepreneur, non-profit founder, and documentary filmmaker. She is a graduate of HBCU Prairie View A&M University, the University of Iowa College of Law, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She recently earned her Certificate in Documentary Arts from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas, she currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her family.

United States of America| 14 minutes 38 seconds

Magool is a Somali American interpreter, who navigates the two distinct worlds of Somali immigrants and American society. In a series of vignettes, she interacts with different members of Somali society in America. In these vignettes, they leave Magool questioning about the place of women in Somali culture. Amids all, Magool’s mother is mysteriously missing doctor’s appointments.

Get a taste of the film by watching the trailer

Nimco Yuusuf is a MFA in Film-making candidate at Ohio University. She is from Somaliland and inspired by the Somali oral tradition of storytelling and hopes to exhume Somali stories. She especially wants to explore stories about women, resilience and living in the global south. She is interested in combining her love for storytelling and interest in science by highlighting the plight of climate refugees in the horn of Africa.

For more information about our film festival, visit our

You can also follow us on social media:

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on X

Follow us on Facebook

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Host or Publisher African Film & Arts Foundation