JALI FILM WEEKENDER 2026
28 October – 1 November
Jali Film Weekender returns for a second edition, presenting a five-day celebration of Black, African and diaspora film, extended realities and more, at multiple venues across Edinburgh.
This year’s programme theme is Rebellion, which manifests across both cinematic forms and narratives told, as well as who audiences will be introduced to both on and off screen.
Rebellion runs through our expansive screen programme, spanning narrative, documentary, animation, experimental and short film, and continues through filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, gatherings and workshops, as well as our Extended Reality (XR) Exhibition of virtual and expanded reality works.
Notes on Rebellion
The 2026 programme presents rebellion not as a single gesture, but as an expansive force through which individuals and communities challenge power, assert their identities and imagine different futures. From portrayals of wide-eyed and spirited children venturing into new life stages, to grieving and strong-willed elders fighting against long-standing structures of power and oppression in hope of justice, to those walking deeply personal paths of refusal and self-determination. Boldness propels us into unknown and unexpected tales, moving through family histories and memories to return to homelands and spaces bursting with joy and love. Spiritual beliefs, cultures, and inherited traumas – of both the familial and the land – are interrogated, leading to unexpected connections and newfound community, whilst individual and collective fights and desires to be heard and seen in the fullness of identity find solidarity across time and space.
This year’s programme probes what it can mean to do things differently; to create work that is unexpected, to journey through lives that do not fit into long established cinematic gazes, and to carefully hold the multiplicities of Black, African and diaspora experiences.
Rebellion does not have to be loud, but it should be a welcoming call to witness and explore the many possibilities of both the everyday and future, when convention is met with resistance.
Festival Artwork:
Up The Volume, 2026
Our 2026 Lead Festival Artwork was created by multidisciplinary artist and creative director Aisha Ayoade.
“This artwork celebrates film's power to bring family together, but reimagines that family as chosen.
In a space where gender and sexuality move freely, unbound by expectation, film becomes a resting force – a refuge from the noise of the outside world.
The imagery holds a scene of uninterrupted comfort: people who have built their own home in one another. Woven through the piece is a nod to Pan-Africanism, with cultural motifs reimagined for a modern setting.”
Aisha Ayoade is a multidisciplinary artist and creative director. Through her work, she documents comfort as a practice - from sacred moments of solitude to familiar gatherings of ease. Through painting and sculpture, Aisha verbs the idea of home, rendering it as moveable and ever-changing. For Aisha, home is conjured through practices of comfort rather than confined to a physical place. Her work is anchored in West African cultural practices, both from within and beyond the continent.
Discover Aisha’s practice through her platform dele.world.
Festival Team
Tomiwa Folorunso - Festival Co-director / Production & Outreach Lead
Isabel Moura Mendes - Festival Co-director / Partnerships & Sponsorships Lead
Carmen Thompson - Festival Co-director / Programming & Operations Lead
Ria Andrews - Outreach Consultant
Azza Mustafa - Cultural Advisor
Divine Hemedi - Cultural Advisor
Gemma Osuolale - Cultural Advisor
Chama Aimable-Kapumpa - Marketing Manager (Aug-Oct)
Michelle Kambasha - PR Consultant
Deborah Mattaka - Digital Communications Coordinator
080 Studio - Design & Branding
King Simz - Trailer Editor
Uchechi - Festival Photographer
Aisha Ayoade - Lead Festival Artwork
Find out more about Jali Collective.
Festival Partners
The 2026 Jali Film Weekender is made possible thanks to the support of our partners.
Funders:
Screen Scotland
Film Hub Scotland
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Branch
Venue Partners:
Filmhouse
Traverse Theatre
Lochrin Rooftop Bar
Film Programme Partners:
Scottish Documentary Institute
Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF)
Take One Action
Geração 80
XR Partners:
Produced Moon
Supporters:
Jack Arts
