The third Hollywood African Cinema Connection (HACC) film festival runs in Cape Town from October 30 to November 2, 2026. The programme includes an African premiere from Iraq and a Sudanese film that won top honours in Durban.
This year’s theme is “Our Land, Our Heritage”. The festival brings together stories of community, culture and resistance. It also holds industry sessions on how films are funded, owned and distributed.
“I did not pause. I watched it from beginning to end,” HACC creative director Weaam Williams said of the opening film, Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream. “I found it so intriguing, and I’m really excited to share this with audiences.”
The film was directed by Iraqi filmmaker Mohamed Al-Daradji. It follows a nine-year-old homeless boy who believes the Tigris River hides a gateway to the underworld. The story is set in Baghdad in 2019.
It links the ancient story of Gilgamesh with a child’s experience of grief and survival. Al-Daradji describes it as “the missing tablet of Gilgamesh, seen through the soul of a child”.
The film won the International Competition Best Film award at the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in South Korea. The jury there chose it unanimously, according to the report.
Williams said the film’s portrayal of two orphans gave audiences a chance to understand lives often reduced to numbers. “We often just see them as statistics in the news,” she said.
Cotton Queen will close the festival. It is the debut feature by Sudanese-Russian filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani. The film centres on a teenager named Nafisa in a Sudanese cotton-farming village.
In the story, a businessman arrives with development plans and genetically engineered cotton. Nafisa is drawn into a struggle over the future of her community.
Cotton Queen won Best Feature Film and the Best Editing award at the 47th Durban International Film Festival. The Durban jury praised how it moves between tradition and modernity, and how it portrays Sudanese culture.
“It really is a female lens and a female gaze into the very intimate worlds of women,” Williams said.
The festival will also hold a special outreach screening of Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story. The film traces Kolisi’s life from childhood to becoming the first black captain of the Springboks. He led South Africa to victory at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The documentary programme includes Paikar, by Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Dawood Hilmandi. In it, he confronts his estranged father and the legacy of violence, war and displacement in his family. The film has screened at Hot Docs in Canada.
Three short-film blocks are set for October 31 and November 1. They include A Shepherd’s Joy from South Africa, which explores growing up in the villages of Matatiele.
Nigeria’s Idia follows a young dancer who rebuilds her confidence through the legacy of the queen she was named after. Namibia’s Okuruwo: The Tale of the Holy Fire follows a man who turns away from the sacred duties of his Himba village.
Tickets for the screenings are available on the HACC website.
Source: this article is based on reporting by themercury.co.za. Image: themercury.co.za. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.