NEW YORK, November 18, 2025 – The Harlem-based 33rd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) returns to New York City from November 29 to December 14, 2025 , with a powerful and essential lineup of over 70 films from more than 30 countries . Founded in 1993, the festival’s mission is to expand traditional views by showcasing socially relevant, award-winning films about people of color from Peru to Zimbabwe, from the USA to Belgium, and from New Zealand to Jamaica , creating a vital dialogue between groundbreaking new voices and classic films.
In-person screenings will be held at key New York venues, including Teachers College, Columbia University; Cinema Village;and The Lenfest Center for the Arts. During the festival, audiences will have the opportunity to engage directly with the filmmakers and gain insight into the creative and cultural inspirations behind select films. For audiences who cannot attend in person, ADIFF will host a Mini Virtual Festival, featuring 20 films available to stream nationwide across the U.S. and Canada.
Festival Programs and Highlights:
- Opening Night Film: The in-person festival opens on Saturday, November 29, with a VIP Reception and the New York Premiere of The Dutchman, a modern, surreal psychological thriller adaptation of Amiri Baraka’s explosive 1964 play. The screening will be followed by a moderated Q&A with director Andre Gaines and Rolling Out journalist, Derrell Johnson.
- Closing Night Film: ADIFF closes with the VIP reception and New York Premiere of Fanon, a powerful biographical drama tracing Martiniquan psychiatrist Frantz Fanon’s formative years in 1950s Algeria. Director Jean-Claude Barney joins ADIFF for a Q&A after the screening.
- Centerpiece Screening: The festival highlights the unique history of the African Diaspora in India with the NY Premiere of Rhythm of Dammam. This powerful drama focuses on the Siddi community, whose family rituals and traditional Dammam music are used to address inter-generational trauma.
- Filmmaker Spotlight: ADIFF will host a special event and conversation with trailblazing director Leslie Harris, following a screening of the restored version of her landmark 1992 film, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.. Harris will discuss her role as one of the first Black women to write, direct, and produce a theatrically released feature film .
- Gala Screenings: The lineup also includes Gala screenings of festival standouts such as Sugar Island (Dominican Republic), a bold portrayal of identity and struggle that premiered at the Venice Film Festival and the US Premiere of the Moroccan thriller The Ants.
- Silenced Voices: Cinema and Censorship: This crucial program revisits critical films once banned or suppressed for challenging political, religious, or moral norms. Featured titles include the earliest surviving feature by Oscar Michaux, Within Our Gates (1920) censored due to raw scenes of racial violence, and Uptight by Jules Dassin (1968), which was suppressed for its sympathetic portrayal of Black militants. A Censorship and Cinema panel featuring legal scholar Tanya Katerí Hernández will be held on Friday, December 12.
- The festival showcases the breadth of the diaspora with an exceptional collection of films straight from major international festivals, including seven New York premieres from FESPACO (the Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou). FESPACO is widely regarded as one the largest and most important film festival in Africa.FESPACO is widely regarded as the mythical center of the Pan-African film universe and is the largest and most important film festival on the continent. Among those is the gripping moral thriller Diya, the Price of Blood (Chad), a film that also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
- The Francophone selection, supported by the OIF and Québec Government Office, highlights films from Canada, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Belgium, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Guadeloupe.
- Other films of note include the Afro-Brazilian historical epic Malês: The Revolt, a journey of resistance set in 1835 Salvador, and the urgent drama The Song of the Rifles (Burkina Faso), which follows a twelve-year-old forced into rebel ranks amid a civil war, charting his desperate fight to reclaim his humanity.
- Senior Program – Seniors across New York City will have the opportunity to attend a free community screening of Who in the Hell is Regina Jones on December 3rd at Teachers College, Columbia University expanding accessibility to cultural experiences for all ages.
Festival passes and individual tickets for in person and virtual screenings are available for purchase online. General admission is $15, while VIP and gala screenings with receptions range from $30-40. Seniors (65+) and students with valid ID can attend for $13, with tickets and festival passes available at www.nyadiff.org
