AAIIFF 2026: Convener, SAB builds a stage for African stories in the age of AI

Sandra (SAB) Adeyeye-Bello

The African AI International Film Festival (AAIIFF) is set to premiere in January 2026, promising to shift how the world experiences African storytelling. Its convener, Sandra (SAB) Adeyeye-Bello, shares the inspiration behind the festival, its mission, and why AI is not the enemy of creativity, but a powerful ally for African filmmakers.

Asking the question that sparked a movement

“I started AAIIFF from a question I couldn’t shake off,” Sandra explains. “Everywhere I looked, people were talking about the future of storytelling: AI this, AI that, but African voices were either missing or squeezed into a footnote. When Africa showed up, it was usually framed as ‘catching up,’ never as contributing, shaping, or leading. That didn’t sit right with me.”

With years of experience in media, storytelling, and creative spaces, Sandra had seen the transformative power of honest narratives and the barriers that too often kept African creators from thriving. AI changed that equation. It offered access, imagination, and the tools to tell stories without waiting for permission.

“AAIIFF was born from that moment of clarity. I didn’t want Africans to wait for inclusion. I wanted us to build our own stage, invite the world, and say, ‘This is what we are creating. Watch.’”

AI as a catalyst, not a replacement

Many outsiders assume AI filmmaking is cold or robotic. Sandra insists the opposite is true in Africa.

“AI is enabling creators to tell deeply personal, culturally rooted stories. They are recreating memories, visualising folklore, reimagining history, and exploring themes like identity, migration, faith, love, and survival, often with just a laptop or mobile phone,” she says.

In fact, AI demands more creativity. Without physical sets or actors, filmmakers must build entire worlds from thought, language, and intention. In Africa, AI is not about replacing people — it’s about expanding what is possible.

What audiences can expect?

AAIIFF 2026 will be the festival’s maiden edition, but Sandra already has a clear vision of its impact:

“I hope audiences leave changed, even if just a little. I want them to realise that African stories are not one-dimensional. Innovation is happening here, quietly but powerfully. I want them to feel surprised, moved, curious, sometimes uncomfortable, because good storytelling does that. And for creators, I hope they think, ‘I can do this too.’”

AAIIFF is about expanding possibilities for African creators, for storytelling, and for the future of film itself.

Advice for emerging African creators

Sandra’s message to filmmakers experimenting with AI is simple: focus on your story.

“Don’t let the noise confuse you. There will always be debates about whether AI is ‘real art’ or ‘real filmmaking.’ Ignore that for now. Start small. Experiment. Fail quietly if you must. Learn the tools, but don’t let the tools lead you. Your culture, your background, your lived experiences; that’s your edge. AI doesn’t give you that. You already have it.”

She emphasises the importance of authenticity: “The world doesn’t need another copy. It needs your voice.”

Quiet determination behind the scenes

If AAIIFF were a movie, Sandra imagines someone like Nse Ikpe Etim playing her role. “It would have to be someone who understands quiet determination; someone who can carry vision without turning it into noise. That’s how AAIIFF was built: quietly, intentionally, with a lot of heart behind the scenes.”

AAIIFF 2026 is taking African stories to where they belong: at the forefront of innovation, creativity, and the global stage.