The ADIFF and ArtMattan Films programme opens in May with a Mother’s Day-themed selection that brings together films exploring womanhood, caregiving, resilience, and survival across multiple regions and generations.
By Joseph Jonathan
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF), in partnership with ArtMattan Films, has announced a nationwide virtual mini-festival set to run from May through September 2026, celebrating more than three decades of ArtMattan’s work in distributing independent cinema centred on Black experiences and other underrepresented perspectives.
The virtual series, which will be accessible across the United States, draws from the extensive ArtMattan catalogue and is structured around monthly themes spotlighting family, identity, memory, and cultural histories. According to the organisers, the initiative is intended not only as a retrospective of ArtMattan’s legacy but also as an opportunity to reintroduce audiences to films that exist outside dominant global circulation despite their artistic and cultural significance.
The programme opens in May with a Mother’s Day-themed selection that brings together films exploring womanhood, caregiving, resilience, and survival across multiple regions and generations. Featured titles include Village Keeper (2024), Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba (2011), Mother Suriname (2023), and Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (1997), among others.
Subsequent editions of the series will unfold around themes including Father’s Day in June, Films for the Family in July, Great African Films in August, and Voices from Latin America in September.
“For more than 30 years, ArtMattan Films has focused on making visible stories that exist outside dominant circulation,” said Reinaldo Barroso-Spech, President of ArtMattan Films and Co-Director of ADIFF. “This series brings those films back into view, to be seen and engaged with in the present.”
Founded over three decades ago, ArtMattan Films has played a significant role in introducing African, Caribbean, Latin American, and diasporic cinema to audiences in the United States, often championing films overlooked by mainstream distribution systems. Through ADIFF and its affiliated programming, the organisation has consistently positioned cinema as a site of cultural exchange and historical reflection.
The May line-up reflects that curatorial philosophy. Village Keeper, directed by Karen Chapman, follows a mother navigating grief and healing, while Rosa Chumbe by Jonatan Relayze Chiang centres on a woman unexpectedly left to care for her grandson. In Faraw! Mother of the Dunes, Malian filmmaker Abdoulaye Ascofaré, examines maternal endurance within the harsh realities of the Sahel, while Mother Suriname by Tessa Leuwsha revisits colonial history through the experiences of a washerwoman in Suriname.
The programme also includes Stand Down Soldier (2015), directed by Jeryl Prescott, Cape Verde, My Love (2007) by Ana Lúcia Ramos Lisboa, and Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba, Mika Kaurismäki’s acclaimed documentary chronicling the life and legacy of South African music icon Miriam Makeba.
“These films reflect different realities of motherhood, women navigating difficult conditions while holding their families together,” said Diarah N’Daw-Spech, Co-Director of ADIFF. “We wanted to make these stories accessible to audiences across the country”.
The virtual festival arrives at a time when conversations around access, preservation, and visibility within global cinema continue to intensify. While streaming has expanded the reach for some films, many independent works from Africa and the diaspora remain difficult to access through traditional platforms. ADIFF’s virtual initiative attempts to bridge that gap by creating a temporary digital space where audiences across the U.S. can encounter films grounded in lived realities, historical memory, and community narratives.
The Mother’s Day programme will run from May 10 to 17, 2026, with each film available for 48 hours after purchase. Individual tickets are priced at $10, while an all-access pass covering the entire series costs $25. More information about the virtual festival, including trailers and ticket access, is available via NYADIFF.org