An open window on the world, which allows us to look at other continents, starting from Africa, not from our point of view, but through the eyes and the stories of those who live on those continents. The African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival (Fescaaal) in Milan has been a precious cultural event for 35 years, an opportunity of extraordinary value to learn about the cinematographic production – short films and feature films – of directors who, with their narration, convey a real, non-stereotypical image of their countries.
Fescaaal returns for its 35th edition from 20 to 29 March 2026 in cinemas in Milan and in streaming throughout Italy on MYmovies.it. The iconic image that characterizes the exhibition, the multicolored zebra, changes this year, emerging from two-dimensionality and taking shape. «It is not a simple formal exercise, but a transition of state: the zebra continues to exist by transforming itself», declare the artistic directors Annamaria Gallone And Alessandra Speciale. «It becomes a living sign, capable of referring to a return to authenticity, but also of becoming animated and acquiring a presence that dialogues with the language of cinema. It is a figure that is not fixed in a symbol: it crosses time, resists and remains vital, like the stories and perspectives that the festival brings to the screen.”
Zebra Lives On is the slogan that accompanies this edition and encapsulates its spirit: un sign of continuity and transformation, of resistance and vitality, which reaffirms the identity of the festival as a living space for meeting, dialogue and vision on the cinema and cultures of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A scene from “Aisha can’t fly”, the debut film by Egyptian director Morad Mostafa, set in Cairo.
Produced by Coe Ets and Fondazione Terre des Hommes Italia Ets, This year the Fescaaal offers 47 films (21 made by women) of which 23 are Italian premieres, one international premiere and one European premiere, meetings with the authors and special events dedicated to the cinema and cultures of Africa, Asia and Latin America, which will take place in person in the following cinemas: Cinema Godard di Fondazione Prada, Cineteca Milano Arlecchino, Cineteca Milano MIC and Auditorium San Fedele. The program includes six sections: Windows on the World Feature Film Competition, African Short Film Competition, Extr’A Competition, Flash Section, Out of Competition, Homage to Shahrbanoo Sadat
The festival will be inaugurated on March 20th by the Italian preview of No Good Men by Shahrbanoo Sadat, in the presence of the director. The film recently had its world premiere as the opening film of the 76th Berlinale. Born in Afghanistan and educated between Kabul and Europe, Sadat has created a work that focuses on characters suspended between tradition and modernity, reality and imagination, recounting with rare talent the desire for emancipation and the complexity of the female condition in contexts marked by conflict and patriarchy. With its mix of romantic comedy and social criticism and a female perspective rooted in Afghan reality, No good men marks a new chapter in an artistic journey capable of intertwining social satire, collective memory and political story. Fescaaal and Fondazione Prada pay homage to the director by also presenting her two previous feature films, Wolf and Sheep (2016) e Orphanage (2019).
Among the ten feature films premiering in Italy, Laundrythe debut work by South African Zamo Mkhwanazi, tells the story of a young aspiring musician and his family, who struggle to manage their own business during the apartheid era; Aisha Can’t Fly Awaythe debut by Egyptian Morad Mostafa, is an urban thriller shot in the heart of Cairo, in which a Sudanese caregiver is blackmailed by a local racket; Homebound by Neeraj Ghaywan, of which Martin Scorsese is executive producer and mentor, follows the path of two childhood friends in the delicate transition towards the world of work, a story of brotherhood and the fight against social barriers.
The films of the three competitive sections of the Fescaaal will be awarded by two juries: lan international jury that will award the Municipality of Milan Award to the Best Film of the “Windows on the World” Feature Film Competition and a Jury of film journalists that will award the Award to the Best Film of the Extr’A Competition, offered by Terre des Hommes, and the Award to the Best African Short Film.
Like every year, the film program is accompanied by numerous events and meetings. For all information you can visit the site.
