Bokola is more than a film festival - it’s a way of seeing.
Rooted in the Zimbabwean slang bokola - to truly see, to grasp deeply -the festival is a platform for truth, resistance, and transformation.
Over the past five years, Bokola has showcased over 40 powerful short films and nurtured rising filmmakers like Jabu Mudzvova, Sikhanyisiwe Sebata, and many others. We amplify voices too often ignored, and shine a light on urgent issues - from climate collapse to corruption.
Focused on documentary film, Bokola believes storytelling can spark action, demand accountability, and connect communities.
If change begins with seeing clearly, Bokola is where we learn to look deeply.
Welcome to the lens. Welcome to Bokola.
BOKOLA 2026: Hold The Line
Hold the Line is about that moment when everything feels like it’s breaking, and you decide not to. It’s the space between falling apart and becoming something new.
Between giving up and pushing forward. Between silence and speaking.
This year we focus on the people who don’t disappear when things get hard. People holding their ground, in climate chaos, political pressure, digital noise, identity struggles, and everyday survival.
It’s about staying.
It’s about adapting without erasing yourself.
It’s about choosing to stand, even when the ground is shaking.
Because sometimes holding the line isn’t about winning.
It’s about refusing to be erased.
HOLD THE LINE - Between collapse and becoming.
Bokola Future of Film Award
