Kilifi Creek Festival returns for second year with 260 film submissions from over 50 countries

Submissions jump more than fivefold

The second edition of the Kilifi Creek Festival (KCF) runs from 23 to 31 October 2026 across seven venues along Kilifi Creek on Kenya's coast, organisers announced in a press release published on 1 October 2026. The nine-day festival received 260 film submissions from more than 50 countries, up sharply from the 33 films from 15 countries screened at its inaugural edition in October 2025, according to the festival's official site.

The festival keeps its 2025 theme, "Water is Memory, Movement and Magic," and will again use The Terrace Art Space, in Mnarani on Bandari Beach, Kilifi, as its main base, the festival's "Plan Your Visit" page says.

Kilifi town sits roughly 56 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of Mombasa by road, on the estuary that gives the creek its name, according to Wikipedia.

A nine-member jury led from Nigeria

Nigerian filmmaker Dr Sulaiman Kassim will preside over a nine-member international jury of "filmmakers, programmers and cultural practitioners," the festival said. Organisers describe Kassim as "an African media executive and creative-industries leader with over 20 years of industry experience."

Beyond screenings, the programme includes art exhibitions, fashion showcases, masterclasses and public talks, according to the festival's "About" page. A separate "Industry" programme pairs daytime workshops, masterclasses and Q&A sessions on storytelling, cinematography, distribution and "the business of film in Africa" with evening open-air screenings on the waterfront.

Growing partner list

KCF 2026 is backed by a lengthening roster of partners. The festival's press release names the HEVA Fund, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Docubox East Africa, the International Documentary Association, Global Girl Media, Chicken & Egg Films, Chevening, Sauti Sessions, the British Council East Africa, African Film Press, Tunga Africa, Shuga Global, Norda, Movies That Matter, Baobab Studios, Kite Holdings, Jani Beauty, D.light, MUICA, Web3Clubs, Sanaa Post, The African Cinema Festival–Lausanne and Kivukoni School, "among others." The festival's separate partnerships page also lists the Goethe-Institut among confirmed 2026 partners.

The festival has also launched a new logo and visual identity for this year, which organisers call "proof of the festival's evolution."

From a Kilifi start-up to a coast-wide platform

KCF was founded in 2025 by Kenyan filmmaker Zippy Kimundu, together with Mumo Liku and Saitabao Kaiyare, in collaboration with the Terrace Consortium, according to the festival's team page and earlier reporting by SinemaFocus and the Star. Kimundu, who holds a Masters in Fine Arts from New York University, is the founder of Afrofilms International and co-founder of the Terrace venue in Kilifi; Liku and Kaiyare run the Baruu Collective. Kevin Mwachiro, a Kenyan writer and podcaster, serves as festival director, with Wakarima Wangui as festival manager, the team page says.

The inaugural festival, held 11-18 October 2025, drew more than 1,000 attendees and hosted 12 filmmakers across 47 screenings in seven venues, the festival's "About" page says. Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff endorsed the event, telling SinemaFocus it "offers stories that change the world" and is "a real opportunity to help spur local economic development and build more than a grassroots community."

What happens next

Organisers say the full day-by-day programme, including venue and screening-time details, "will be updated once they are confirmed," according to the festival's programme page, which as of early October still listed sessions as "to be confirmed." Some events will be ticketed through a partnership with tickets.sanaapost.com, the press release says, though the festival has not published prices. KCF has not said whether general admission to screenings will be free, as in 2025, or ticketed.