Ghana · Creative industry
How Ghanaian film-school work reached FESPACO’s 2025 programme
FESPACO selected the 10-minute NAFTI film Ebu / Perdue for its 2025 school competition. Its separate Yennenga Academy list named two Ghanaian participants, including one from the University of Cape Coast. The festival records show how a finished short and individual training could reach the same event.
Sources checked
- 5 April 2024The Yennenga workshops opened their published application window.
- 31 October 2024The published application window closed.
- 10 January 2025The official school film selection was scheduled for announcement in Ouagadougou.
- 14 January 2025The Yennenga workshop results were scheduled for announcement in N’Djamena.
- 25 February 2025The screening programme listed Ebu / Perdue in the 14:00 to 16:00 school film block at Canal Olympia Idrissa Ouédraogo.
- 27 February 2025The same school film block was listed for 10:00 to 12:00 at Canal Olympia Idrissa Ouédraogo.
Show 1 more dates
- 1 March 2025Scheduled closing date of the 29th FESPACO.
The festival announced competition and training selections on separate dates.
A ten-minute NAFTI film entered a 20-title competition
The official selection credits Ebu / Perdue to Thompson Lordson and lists NAFTI, Ghana. It was the sole entry with a Ghana affiliation in the 20-title film-school list. The section included work from ten countries and listed running times from 7 to 19 minutes. The median was 13 minutes, putting the Ghanaian entry below the middle of the group. Source 1
The timetable gave the short two scheduled showings
The programme listed Ebu / Perdue in a seven-film block at Canal Olympia Idrissa Ouédraogo in Pissy on 25 and 27 February. Its first listed block ran from 14:00 to 16:00 and the second from 10:00 to 12:00. The film’s ten minutes describe its running time. The programme’s two-hour window covered the full group. Source 5
The academy roster records a second route into the festival
The Yennenga Academy list names Edem Estelle Agbegninou of the University of Cape Coast and Lordson Thompson of the Institute of Film and Television among 18 participants. The festival’s market catalogue also lists both names. The Academy call described masterclasses across fields including production, directing, writing and distribution. Its roster records individual participation, while the school competition list records selected films. Source 2 Source 3 Source 6
The festival published different scopes for its headline and its sections
FESPACO announced 235 selected films from 1,351 submissions across its wider official selection. That submission count applies to the festival-wide announcement. The school list gives the selected titles but does not give the number of entries received for that specific section. The academy has a separate selection record, so adding its participant count to the school film total would mix people and films. Source 4 Source 1 Source 2
Sources
- FESPACO 2025 official selection, film schools competition and academy lists
- FESPACO 2025 official selection, Yennenga Academy participants and affiliations
- FESPACO 2025 MICA catalogue, Yennenga Academy roster
- FESPACO, official selection announcements and festival dates
- FESPACO, screening programme, 25 and 27 February 2025
- FESPACO, Yennenga 2025 workshops call