The Gathering
Places to watch
Where African film actually lives. Streaming services, archives and festivals, with what each one costs.
Lagos Studies Association
Nigeria
Full recorded conference panels on Lagos and Nigerian history, urbanism and archives. Over 600 videos across four years. Unpolished, unfiltered, and the most locally relevant thing here.
Free
youtube.com/channel/UCggLOo24WkHLu40wO0axKWA →Africa: A Voyage of Discovery
Pan-African
Basil Davidson's eight-part 1984 series, made with the Nigerian Television Authority. Dated in places, scholarly throughout, and still the best long-form visual introduction to precolonial Africa. A third-party upload, so it could vanish.
Free
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFvPokVCoHV-ye-W7FJTKWRC1uEXzizU →AfriDocs
Pan-African
Award-winning African feature documentaries, run by STEPS. Geo-blocked to Africa, so it opens for you and not for the diaspora.
Free
afridocs.net/ →Cinémathèque Afrique on TV5MONDE+
Francophone Africa
Fifteen restored African films from 1955 onward, including Afrique sur Seine, Bal poussière and La Vie est belle. Free since May 2026.
Free
tv5mondeplus.com/en/collection/cinematheque-afrique_74079A →Ubongo
Tanzania
Tanzanian-made children's animation in English, Kiswahili and French. Akili and Me, Ubongo Kids. For the under-tens, and genuinely made on the continent.
Free
ubongo.org/ →Circuits
Nigeria
Nigerian virtual cinema with a free tier and pay-per-view rentals from about ₦885. Deepest on older and archived African films. Use the website, not the app.
Free + rental
circuits.media/ →EbonyLife ON Plus
Nigeria
Mo Abudu's platform: the EbonyLife catalogue plus talk shows and training content. Small library, so treat it as a supplement.
₦1,500/mo
ebonylifeon.com/ →Netflix Nollywood
Nigeria
Higher-budget Nigerian features and originals, plus the UNESCO co-produced African Folktales, Reimagined shorts.
₦2,500+/mo
netflix.com/browse/genre/1077508 →Kava
Nigeria
Owned by Inkblot and Filmhouse, so it gets recent Nigerian cinema releases. Three to four new Nigerian films a month.
₦3,000/mo
kava.ng/ →DStv Stream
Pan-African
Now the home of the Showmax Originals slate, folded in from April 2026. Do not subscribe to standalone Showmax expecting it to last.
₦4,400+/mo
dstv.com/stream →MUBI
Global
Curated arthouse with standing African collections, including African Cinema at Cannes. Seven-day trial, and it works from Nigeria.
₦6,000/mo
mubi.com/ →kweliTV
Black diaspora
Over 900 independent films, documentaries, animation and series across the global Black diaspora, a large share of them African.
From $2.99/mo
kweli.tv/ →Africa Direct
Pan-African
Seventy-three short documentaries by African filmmakers, first-person and character-led. No new series since 2024, but the whole run stays up.
Free
aljazeera.com/video/africa-direct/ →Ndani TV
Nigeria
Nigerian web series and short films: Skinny Girl in Transit, Fractured, The House Wife. The shorts strand stopped in 2019, the archive is free.
Free
ndani.tv/ →