What Will Make Africans Watch More African Films?

A television series from China is offering African filmmakers and the wider creative industry a powerful lesson: audiences will show up when stories connect with them.

Pursuit of Jade, the 2026 Chinese period drama starring Zhang Linghe and Tian Xiwei, became one of the year’s major television hits, garnering billions of views across Chinese platforms and attracting international audiences. By April, reports put its total viewership at more than 3 billion, highlighting the enormous appetite for compelling locally produced stories.

But what does that mean for African cinema?

The answer may not simply be about making more films. It may be about listening more closely to the people for whom those films are meant.

What Do African Audiences Want?

This is the question the Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF) is putting directly to audiences.

Rather than assuming filmmakers already know what viewers want, BSIFF has been engaging people and asking a simple but important question: What do you want to see in African films—and what don’t you want to see?

Watch the video below as BSIFF takes the conversation to the streets and asks audiences what they really want from African films.

The responses offer an opportunity to rethink how African stories are created, packaged, and presented to audiences. And that conversation matters.

Africa has no shortage of talented actors, filmmakers, writers, producers, and storytellers. What remains critical is building a stronger connection between creators and the audiences who ultimately determine whether a film becomes a cultural conversation or simply disappears after its release.

Can African Cinema Build Its Own Massive Audience?

The success of productions such as Pursuit of Jade demonstrates what can happen when local storytelling finds a receptive audience and is supported by a strong entertainment ecosystem.

African cinema has the raw material to achieve something similar.

From Ghanaian folklore and contemporary social realities to stories of African families, relationships, history, identity, and ambition, the continent possesses an extraordinary reservoir of narratives.

The challenge is turning that storytelling wealth into films and series that Africans genuinely want to watch, share, and recommend.

That is part of the conversation BSIFF is championing as it works to encourage more Africans to take pride in and consume African films.

The question is therefore not only whether filmmakers can make better films.

It is also: What will make you watch more Ghanaian films?

BSIFF Brings African Cinema to Kumasi

That conversation will continue at the 11th edition of the Black Star International Film Festival, scheduled for September 24–27, 2026, in Kumasi, Ghana.

The festival will be held at Golden Eagle Cinemas, Kumasi, which has been announced as the official festival venue.

Under the theme “Film & Global Culture: The New Wave of African Cinema,” BSIFF 2026 will explore the evolving landscape of African storytelling and the opportunities emerging across film, television, technology, and creative industries.

For audiences, however, the festival is more than a gathering of industry professionals.

It is an invitation to watch African stories on the big screen, discover filmmakers from across the continent, and join the conversation about the future of African cinema.

The Audience Has a Role to Play

If African cinema is going to grow into a powerful global industry, filmmakers cannot do it alone. Audiences have a role.

Every ticket purchased, film streamed, story shared, and conversation started sends a message about what African viewers value.

That is why BSIFF’s question is worth taking seriously: What do you want to see?

The answer could help shape the next generation of African films.

This September, BSIFF is bringing exciting films from around Africa to Kumasi and inviting families, friends, and film lovers to experience them together.

The stories are being made. The question now is whether we will show up to watch them.

Register for BSIFF 2026

Film lovers who want to be part of the 11th BSIFF can register on the official festival website at www.bsiff.org or dial *713*33*208#.

What would make you watch more Ghanaian films? Share your answer in the comments.

Editor’s note: A video accompanying this article features BSIFF’s audience engagement on what viewers want and do not want to see in African films.

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