Media & Press

Press Coverage

Articles, interviews, and features from outlets covering the festival since 2011, including editions SFF 2011 through SFF 2017.

Photos

Images from outdoor screenings, workshop sessions, and the awards gala. Suitable for editorial credit and partner communications.

Videos

Festival trailers and recorded highlights from previous editions, including the Film Lab and community news features.

Publications

Programme notes, juries' statements, and award lists documented in earlier editions such as SFF 2016 and SFF 2017.

The Slum Film Festival positions itself as a pioneering platform dedicated to storytelling from informal settlements across Africa and the wider world. By centring the voices of filmmakers who live and work in these communities, the festival reframes how narratives about urban poverty are produced and shared. Its mission emphasises authenticity and creative ownership, inviting audiences to encounter slum realities through cinema rather than through external stereotypes or charity-driven framing.

The annual event curates a programme of short films, documentaries, and features that explore themes such as daily survival, resilience, displacement, and aspiration. Screenings are paired with panel discussions, visiting filmmaker talks, and mentor sessions designed to nurture emerging talent. Over successive editions the programme has expanded to include gala ceremonies, awards, and community screenings, transforming the festival into both a celebration of creativity and a practical space for skills exchange among artists from diverse backgrounds.

Press and media coverage form a significant strand of the festival's public presence. Journalists, researchers, and partner organisations can access a growing archive of press releases, photographs, and editorial features documenting each edition since the inaugural year. This accumulated material offers a longitudinal record of how community filmmaking has evolved and how external media outlets have engaged with the festival's themes, filmmakers, and screening locations over time.

Community engagement remains central to the festival's identity, with screenings held in well known cultural venues and neighbourhood venues. These gatherings function as public conversations, allowing residents to respond to stories that reflect their own experiences while introducing outside audiences to the texture of life in slums such as Kibera and Mathare. The interplay between local audiences and visiting artists enriches both the films and the surrounding cultural life of each host community.

Behind the festival is a collaborative team of organisers, mentors, jurors, and partner institutions who support filmmakers throughout the submission, selection, and distribution cycle. Donors, sponsors, and community partners contribute resources that enable production grants, travel for visiting filmmakers, and the publication of reports documenting the festival's activities. Together this network ensures that each year's programme not only functions as a single event but contributes to a longer term archive of invisible stories brought into the light.