This year's festival brings together new voices, internationally travelled films and stories spanning drama, romance, documentary, animation, satire and horror, says the festival.
The 2026 programme consists of 36 films which includes two World Premieres, ten African Premieres, six South African Premieres and eight Cape Town Premieres, giving audiences the opportunity to be among the first in the world, on the continent, in the country or in Cape Town to experience many of this year's films.
From Sundance, Tribeca and Rotterdam to Cape Town
Some of the films arriving at FAME Shorts Film Festival have already travelled through internationally recognised film festivals, adds the festival.
Joining the programme is APART, directed by South African artist and filmmaker Pola Maneli, which will make its African Premiere at FAME Shorts. Following its World Premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival, the animated short has enjoyed an impressive international run, winning Best Animated Short at the Provincetown International Film Festival and Best in Show at the SIGGRAPH 2026 Computer Animation Festival.
Set during apartheid, the film follows two boys whose friendship is tested by the divided world around them. APART brings together an extraordinary creative team: it is Spike Lee's first fully animated short film, with South Africa's Black Coffee serving as Music Supervisor and internationally acclaimed designer Laduma Ngxokolo leading the film's wardrobe design, says the festival.
It joins an international line-up that includes Miss You Perdularia, an official selection at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival; You Tryna Say You Love Me?, which had its World Premiere at Tribeca 2026; The Last Jiangshi, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; and God Sleeps on Sundays, which also began its festival journey at IFFR.
Be There For A World Premiere
FAME Shorts Film Festival is also giving Cape Town audiences the opportunity to see films before anyone else, adds the festival.
Juju, by Robyn Phillips, and Ben Mall's, Queezy Visits the Races are currently confirmed to have their World Premieres at FAME Shorts Film Festival 2026.
They form part of a programme designed around discovery — whether that means seeing a film fresh from a major international festival, encountering a filmmaker from another part of Africa, or sitting in the cinema when a new film meets its first-ever audience, says the festival.
"This year's programme has films that have already travelled through festivals like Sundance, Tribeca and Rotterdam sitting alongside films that audiences will be seeing for the very first time. Come and see the film you know, but also take a chance on something you don't. Discover a filmmaker you've never heard of and hopefully leave the cinema talking about a film you weren't expecting," says Martin Hiller, Portfolio Director, FAME Week Africa.
Five Worlds to Discover
The 2026 FAME Shorts Film Festival takes audiences on a journey through five distinct themes, each bringing together films connected by a shared mood, idea or way of looking at the world.
The festival opens on Friday, 30 October with Island Stories presented in partnership with La Kourmétragerie. Taking audiences into the Indian Ocean through stories from Réunion, Mayotte and Mauritius, the programme explores how memory, heritage, family, love and environmental change shape who we are and where we belong. Moving between fiction, documentary and animation, the programme features Misouk, Haraka Haraka, 52 Reasons, Lo Chain Lo Bassin and Pie dan lo, adds the festival.
On Saturday, 31 October, At First Light turns towards hope and the people who choose to keep moving forward. Through music, sport, dance, community and tradition, these stories explore courage, possibility and the belief that change can begin even in difficult circumstances. The programme features Sikelela, Sanctuary, Leopard of Congo and Klop Klop.
As darkness falls, audiences are invited to Follow the White Rabbit, where the ordinary becomes wonderfully strange. Across two screening blocks, reality begins to shift as the films move into darker, eerie, and uncanny territory. For audiences willing to follow wherever the rabbit leads, the programme features God Sleeps on Sundays, Juju, Sugarcane, Burning, Goat, Burning Lies, The Last Jiangshi, Colour of Dreams and Dread, says the festival.
Later that evening, On the Horizon looks at familiar worlds from unexpected perspectives. Moving between romance, satire and social critique, these films question inherited rules, challenge the systems around us and find humour and humanity in people willing to push against convention. The programme features Vimba! Pt 2, Whispers of a Burning Scent, Luna and Aasvoëls (Vultures).
The festival's final day, Sunday, 1 November, belongs to And They Lived — stories that remind us that life does not end with happily ever after. Across four screening blocks, the programme explores passion, creativity, relationships, resilience and second chances. These are stories about choosing what makes us feel alive, finding the courage to begin again and learning to live life on our own terms. The programme features Miss You Perdularia, Dears in the Headlights, The Father of the Queen of Angola, Amigo the Griot, Runner, Don't Pity the Girl, It's Just a Movie, Ubani Lore?, APART, A Poppy on a Hill, Talking to Family, You Tryna Say You Love Me?, The Man, The Cliff and The Dog, Everything Between Us and Queezy Visits the Races, adds the festival.
The full programme, screening times and further information about each of the selected films are available on the FAME Shorts Film Festival website.
Cape Town Welcomes Filmmakers and Film Lovers
As Host City of FAME Week Africa, the City of Cape Town continues its support of FAME Shorts Film Festival, welcoming filmmakers and audiences to a city with a strong connection to film, television and the creative industries, says the festival.
"Cape Town has an incredible filmmaking community, and it is particularly exciting to see 13 films by Cape Town filmmakers represented in this year's FAME Shorts programme. Having their work shown on the big screen alongside films from across Africa and around the world speaks to the depth of creative talent we have in the city. FAME Shorts gives these filmmakers a platform to have their work seen, celebrated and positioned as part of a much bigger international film conversation," says Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town.
A Partnership With Purpose
There is one member of the FAME Shorts team who has become increasingly difficult to ignore: the penguin. The African penguin sits at the heart of the FAME Shorts identity, leading its slightly unruly film crew across this year's campaign and encouraging audiences to, "Follow the penguins. Find your next favourite film."
This year, the mascot has an added connection, with CapeNature joining FAME Shorts Film Festival as a Supporting Partner, adds the festival.
While the festival penguin brings humour and personality to FAME Shorts, the story facing its real-life counterparts is far more serious. The African penguin is listed as Critically Endangered, with CapeNature reporting in 2025 that fewer than 8 750 breeding pairs remained in South Africa. CapeNature manages important conservation areas that include the African penguin colony at Stony Point Nature Reserve in Betty's Bay.
The partnership gives FAME Shorts Film Festival an opportunity to use the affection audiences have for its penguin mascot to also shine a light on one of the Western Cape's most recognisable and threatened species, says the festival.
"The African penguin is one of the Western Cape's most iconic species, but it is also facing an extremely serious conservation challenge. The FAME Shorts penguin provides a fun and creative way to start an important conversation with new audiences about the species and why protecting it matters. We are delighted to support FAME Shorts Film Festival and to see storytelling, creativity and conservation coming together in such an engaging way," says Dr Ashley Naidoo, CapeNature: CEO.
CapeNature continues to work alongside conservation partners on measures aimed at protecting African penguin colonies and improving the species' chances of survival.
Across three days, there are opportunities to discover films from Africa and around the world, see World, African, South African and Cape Town Premieres, and experience some of the filmmakers and stories shaping the future of short-form cinema, concludes the festival.
For more information, visit www.fameweekafrica.com. You can also follow FAME Week Africa on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of contributor