We Are Tano


WHAT IS TANO?

‘Tano’ is the Swahili word for five and was adopted in 2015 as the umbrella name of the UK’s five biggest African film festivals. Each festival is independently run and curated, but the network collaborates to identify key films to screen nation-wide, bring in special guests, and generally raise the profile and visibility of African cinema in the UK. 

The TANO network was founded in February 2013 at FESPACO where Africa in Motion, Afrika Eye, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa signed the Ouagadougou Declaration. Through this declaration the festivals committed to working together to promote African cinema throughout the UK through:

  • Sharing films and touring African film directors
  • Joint publicity and funding applications
  • Promoting the screening of African cinema films on all platforms and formats by all means possible.

Through our collective actions, we aim to redress negative stereotyping and to celebrate the diversity of African cultures on UK screens. We aim to bring a Pan African collaborative vision to the organisation of TANO African festivals -UK. The TANO network was founded in February 2013 at FESPACO where Africa in Motion, Afrika Eye, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa signed the Ouagadougou Declaration. For more information about each of the TANO festivals, please click below:

Africa In Motion, Scotland  | @AiMfilmfest

Afrika Eye, Bristol and the SW | @AfrikaEyeFest

Film Africa, London and the SE | @FilmAfrica

Cambridge African Film Festival (CAFF) | |@africambridge

Watch Africa, Wales | @Watch_WAFF

 #WeAreTano



PAST COLLABORATIONS

As well as working together on this new WE ARE TANO initiative, other joint projects by the Tano consortium have included: 

DAYS OF FEAR AND WONDER (2014) - As part of the British Film Institute (BFI)’s national focus on science fiction, we programmed a strand of African science fiction and Afrofuturist short films. 

SOUTH AFRICA AT 20: THE FREEDOM TOUR (2014/15)– a UK-wide tour, supported by the BFI and the Department of Arts and Culture in South Africa, celebrating the 20thanniversary of South African democracy with a season of South African-made films and director talks, and other events. The season included a core programme of ten films and was attended by around 7,500 people across the UK. 

FROM AFRICA, WITH LOVE (2015)– a UK-wide tour, supported by the BFI’s Film Audience Network, of African films on the topic of love and romance, part of the BFI’s Love Season. 

AFRICA’S LOST CLASSICS (2017)-, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) this programme revisiting the history of African cinema by showcasing acclaimed works by African filmmakers which had been banned, censored, lost or forgotten and enabling the restoration and screening of landmark films by African women. 

We Are Tano (2020) - An free online showcase of contemporary African films from the 2000's biggest. This included a campaign for the release of jailed Sudanese director Hajooj Kuka.