Following on from the successful online competition for the 2025 Adiaha Award, The Ladima Foundation is excited to announce the opening of entries for 2026, the 8th edition of The Adiaha Award for Best Documentary by an African Women

Launched at the Zanzibar International Film Festival in 2017, the award has been hosted by the Encounters International Documentary Film Festival for the past few years, and will now be run as an online competition open to African women living and working on the continent.

Past winners have gone to achieve international success and have included: Mother City (South Africa) 2025, Le Spectre de Boko Haram - Cyrielle Raingou, 2024, Our Land, Our Freedom (Kenya/United States/Portugal/Germany, Zippy Kimundu and Meena Nanji

Awards & Prizes

The First Prize Winner will receive a cash prize of $2000 and their film will be screened at select partner festivals, of which the details will be announced.

Rules & Terms

1) The Adiaha Award is only open to women filmmakers (directors and producers)
2) Filmmakers must currently live and / or work on the African continent.
3) The film must have been produced within Africa.
4) Films should preferably have been released after 2023.
5) The Producer and / or the Director of the film must be women.
6) The winner must be a member of the Ladima A-List which is free to join at www.ladima.africa.
7) The winning Filmmakers must agree to allow screening of the film at select partner festivals, to be confirmed.
8) The winning Filmmakers agree to the use of the official trailer, promo materials, and the name and information of the filmmakers to be used in promotional materials announcing the winner, and to be listed on the Ladima website and digital platforms.
9) All other eligibility requirements in terms of duration etc listed herein must be met.
10) The jury decision will be final.