Sign in

Tambay Obenson

@tambay.bsky.social
1.8K followers 17 following 174 posts

Founded Shadow & Act LLC, 2009. Sold to Blavity Inc, 2017. Staff writer at IndieWire 2018-2022. Now building akoroko.com. WE'RE FUNDRAISING: bit.ly/akoroko

PostsRepliesMedia
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
African Film Press (AFP) has launched a public box office tracker to answer two basic questions: What are people watching in African cinemas, and how are African films performing weekly in their home markets across the continent? africanfilmpress.com/africa-box-o...
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Across African cities, films reach audiences in places box office reports don't capture: video halls, movie shops, sports bars... Formal industry data mostly leaves these places out. Google Maps lists many of them, and customers leave reviews there, like restaurants. So we tried something...
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Akoroko Premium is a paid professional intelligence service focused on African screen sectors, built primarily for producers, distributors, sales agents, programmers, funders, researchers, academics, journalists, and other working professionals. Subscribe/learn more: akoroko.com/subscribe
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
At the Locarno Film Festival's Open Doors awards ceremony on August 10, 2026, the African Film Press (AFP) Critics Prize went to "Submergido," the debut short by Mozambican director Ariel Añez, produced by Joseph Mata. This is the first time we've awarded the prize outside Africa.
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
At the second Open Doors Africa Cycle awards, during the 2026 Locarno Film Festival, the African Film Press (AFP) Critics Prize went to "Submergido," the debut short by Mozambican director Ariel Añez. This is the second edition of our Critics Prize, after its debut at S16 in Lagos in December 2025.
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Our first mid-year statement — a read on where film and television stood across the first half of 2026, and what we expect for the second half, written from an African vantage point: africanfilmpress.com/articles/afp...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Yesterday, Cabo Verde met Argentina on the World Cup stage. Today, we’re looking at another part of the same story: how a ten-island nation off West Africa has carried its image into cinema. “The Cinema of Cabo Verde” is a visual history from African Film Press: africanfilmpress.com/cabo-verde-c...
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
AFP Theme Week. Mon — Nigerian cinema Tue — African genre film ← today (test your knowledge) Wed — African pioneers Thu — African documentary Fri — Contemporary African cinema
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
AFP "Logline" Adds Lifelines, New Shared Scores, and Intros "Theme Week" "Theme Week" on Logline starts Monday, 29 June 2026. Five African films a day, a theme for each. Plus new: a balanced daily five, lifelines, and a result that tells more of the story: africanfilmpress.com/articles/log...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Logline 3/5 · 13 clues ⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛ Five African films a day. Name each from its clues. #AFPLogline africanfilmpress.com/afp-play/log...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Logline 3/5 · 13 clues 🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛ Five African films a day. Name each from its clues. #AFPLogline africanfilmpress.com/afp-play/log...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Audience cultivation with five films daily: Introducing AFP Logline, part of a new African Film Press initiative called AFP Play. More to come. For now: africanfilmpress.com/afp-play/log...
011
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
African Film Press (AFP) published its 2025 Year-End Organizational Overview with a revamped web presence, documenting AFP’s first full year of operation and how the alliance operates across Akoroko, Sinema Focus, and What Kept Me Up. The full story is at africanfilmpress.com.
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
We follow the whole ecosystem — Akoroko, Sinema Focus, What Kept Me Up #AfricanFilmPress
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
"Ultimately, heavy reliance on a non-commercial, grant-based film economy often driven by European institutions — increasingly Gulf — which should prompt questions about long-term sustainability, particularly for the arthouse sector that dominates prestige conversations." akoroko.com/african-film...
022
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
How casually a powerful state can cross borders, bomb territory, and physically remove another country’s leader, not justified by any binding international legal process. Troubling that many applaud action like this, accepted as "common sense"; zero scrutiny. I'm exhausted.
050
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
What happens after the streaming wars? Will festival success translate to home releases? Can African film journalism shift the narrative? What role will China and AI play? Akoroko examines the pressure points defining the next phase of Africa's media landscape. Read: akoroko.com/african-scre...
011
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
A new year begins. This work continues. Thank you, as always, for being here #Akoroko #AfricanFilmPress #AFP
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Based on a comprehensive Akoroko audit of African screen activity from 2022 to Dec. 2025, this analysis maps ten "alternative" narratives that challenge the tired "emerging market" framing of African cinema. The work was never quiet; it's just harder to ignore now: akoroko.com/10-conversat...
050
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Netflix’s Warner Bros. bid accelerates global media consolidation at the top. Africa’s screen economy now shaped by Canal+ / MultiChoice. Immediate impact more in diaspora markets, pending further clarity from Canal+’s Africa integration plans. Akoroko insights: akoroko.com/netflix-warn...
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
The Prize certificate also comes with a USD $500 cash award.
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
The African Film Press AFP Critics Prize officially launches at S16 Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
"El Sett" world premiere #MarrakechInternationalFilmFestival #UmmKulthum
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Early rise today for a most privileged part of these programs — the works-in-progress screenings. Glimpses into the future...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Meanwhile... also at Marrakech for the festival and the restructured Atlas Programs...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 #AfricanFilmPress #AFP
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
We follow the whole ecosystem — Akoroko | Sinema Focus | What Kept Me Up
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
The only report of its kind: African Box Office 2025 — A Measured View of the Continent’s Theatrical Revenue akoroko.com/african-box-...
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Launching the Prize at the S16 Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria, in two weeks!
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Discussing the afterlives of African films at the University of Cambridge a few days ago...
021
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Been quite a year for me and the platforms I'm building. But 2025 is not done with me yet. Next: honored to have been invited to speak at the University of Cambridge during a symposium organized around the 60th anniversary of Ousmane Sembène’s landmark film. Details: crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/47520/
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Good company... #SanSebastianFilmFestival
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Old Town, San Sebastián...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
#SanSebastianFilmFestival
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
#Couture intro #SanSebastián
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
San Sebastián 2025 #SSIFF
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
MY FATHER'S SHADOW comes home, opening in Nigerian cinemas on Sept 19. I was at the Cannes premiere. My review of the film (among this year's most popular subscriber newsletters) is online. Read for FREE: A Son’s Reconstruction of a Father Lost to Lagos and History — akoroko.com/my-fathers-s...
011
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Does Trump continue unabated? Apparently. The pattern: push a boundary; meet little meaningful resistance; normalize it. Republicans do nothing; Democrats can’t or won’t; and what was unthinkable yesterday, is a precedent tomorrow. There's no scenario where that cycle ends well for anyone...
030
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
What happened when 11 Nigerian filmmakers explored the national audiovisual archive and produced new shorts, linking past moving images to present-day discourse on identity and politics...? akoroko.com/nigerian-fil...
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
... Level up....
031
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Much thanks to OkayAfrica for the piece 🙌🏾 www.okayafrica.com/how-african-...
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Africa at Venice 2025 → the largest footprint in the festival’s history: 25+ projects across Competition, Critics’ Week, Venice Days, Biennale College, Final Cut, Gap-Financing, Book Adaptation. Festival runs Aug 27–Sept 6. Subscribe for full breakdown and analysis: akoroko.com/localpricing/
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
News on the March! deadline.com/2025/08/pan-...
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
August 22, 2025, Unseen Nairobi, African Film Press (AFP)—a pan-African alliance that includes Akoroko, Sinema Focus, and What Kept Me Up—held its first public-facing gathering. It was the beginning of a series of intimate gatherings we plan to hold across the continent. Up next, Lagos, Nigeria.
100
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
mookh.com/event/africa...
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
000
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
010
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Part 2: African Film Press (AFP) takes baby steps into distribution...
020
Tambay Obenson @tambay.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Honored to have been invited to present a paper during this University of Cambridge symposium in November, organized around the 60th anniversary of Sembène’s seminal work "La Noire de..." Deets on the conference, which is titled "La Noire de... at 60" 👉🏾 www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/47520/
021