Directors: Isa-Lee Jacobson & Charlie Northcott
Runtime: 75m

In the late 1980s, private security guard Louis van Schoor fatally shot dozens people in the South African city of East London. All of his victims were black. The youngest was just 12 years old. Now one of the worst mass killers in South Africa’s history is free from prison - and he is ready to speak.

Best TV Feature Documentary nominee, International Documentary Association
Nearly one million views on YouTube

Director: Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp
Runtime: 1 hr 54 min

Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musician Bobi Wine enters the 2021 presidential race, running against Yoweri Museveni, who had led the country for 35 years.

Oscar nominee: Best Documentary Feature
Best Feature Documentary, International Documentary Association

Director: Sam Soko
Runtime: 1 hr 21 min

When photojournalist Boniface "Softie" Mwangi wants to run for political office, he is forced to choose: country or family?

Special Jury Prize: Editing, Sundance

Director: Mads Brügger
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 min

Danish director Mads Brügger and Swedish private investigator Göran Björkdahl are trying to solve the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld in Zambia. As their investigation closes in, they discover a crime far worse than killing the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who won the Nobel Peace Prize after his death.

Directing Award: World Cinema - Documentary, Sundance

Director: Connie Field
Runtime: 1 hr 37 min

This episode of the Emmy-winning series Have You Heard From Johannesburg focuses on Oliver Tambo, who led South Africa’s liberation struggle in exile from 1960-1990 while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island.

Directors’ Award: Documentary, Pan African Film Festival

Directors: Aaron & Amanda Kopp
Runtime: 1 hr 17 min

Guided by Gcina Mhlope, five children dive into their imaginations to create a story about a girl on a dangerous quest to rescue her twin brothers.

Winner of 35 awards, including Best Documentary at Los Angeles Film Festival and the Grand Prize at New York International Children’s Film Festival

Director: Brett Morgen
Runtime: 90 min

Drawing from over 100 hours of previously unseen archival footage, Jane tells the story of Dr. Jane Goodall, whose early fieldwork, observing chimpanzees in Tanzania, revolutionised our understanding of the natural world.

Emmys for Writting, Directing & Cinematography

Director: Rehad Desai
Runtime: 1 hr 25 min

In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more.

Best Documentary, International Emmy Awards

Director: Mika Kaurismäki
Runtime: 90 min

An unforgettable portrait of Grammy winner Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), exploring her life, music and activism.

Audience Award, Berlin International Film Festival, 2011

Directors: Daniel Junge & Siatta Scott Johnson
Runtime: 52 min

After 14 years of civil war, in 2006 Liberia appointed Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president - the first elected female head of state in Africa.

Best Political Documentary, Banff Television Festival

Director: Miguel Ortega
Runtime: 10 min

An African fable of sisterhood, envy, and ancient evil.

Short of the Week & Vimeo Staff Pick

Director: Farida Zahran
Runtime: 11 min

A teenage girl takes a step toward adulthood in contemporary Cairo.

Best Live Action Film <15 Minutes, Palm Springs
Vimeo Staff Pick & Short of the Week

Director: Yves Piat
Runtime: 17 min

In the middle of the desert, two football fan brothers bump into a lost donkey, which wears headphones over its ears and carries bags full of white powder.

Oscar nominee: Best Live Action Short

Director: Meryam Joobeur
Runtime: 25 min

Mohamed is a shepherd in rural Tunisia. His family’s world is shaken when his oldest son returns after a long journey with a mysterious woman he says is his wife.

Oscar nominee: Best Live Action Short

Director: Katja Benrath
Runtime: 21 min

For almost a decade, Kenya had been targeted by Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks. Mistrust was growing between between Muslims and Christians, until in December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail.

Oscar nominee: Best Live Action Short

Director: Grant de Sousa
Runtime: 16 min

When lonely Andy invites a girl he met online to his apartment, he falls head over heels for her - despite his flatmate’s repeated attempts to point out her seemingly obvious flaw.

Best Comedy: The L.A. Short Film Festival

Directors: Lindsay Branham & Andrew Michael Ellis
Runtime: 5 min

Thousands of children between the ages of 6 and 18 live in slavery on Lake Volta, working up to 18 hours a day in the fishing industry. Children just like Foli.

Vimeo Staff Pick Pick & Webby nominee

Director: Joey L
Runtime: 29 min

Uri, a young boy from the Hamar tribe, prepares for his coming-of-age ceremony to become a man. The drought means natural resources are scarce, increasing the odds of conflict with neighbouring tribes.

Vimeo Best of the Year

Director: Ari Kruger
Runtime: 9 min

After a sniper’s mission is compromised, he must rely on his deadbeat housemate to see him through.

Vimeo Staff Pick

Director: Kibwe Tavares
Runtime: 17 min

Written by Emmy winner Jack Throne (Adolescence), Jonah follows Mbwana (Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya), a young man with big dreams.

Shots Young Director Award winner

Director: Bryan Buckley
Runtime: 18 min

A boy from a poor Somali village who must decide between piracy and life as a fisherman.

Oscar nominee: Best Live Action Short

Director: The Blackheart Gang
Runtime: 4 min

A little white mouse comes to the aid of the dodos, who are desperate to escape a giant octopus.

+10 awards, including from Annecy & Clermont-Ferrand

Director: Daniel Taye Workou
Runtime: 20 min

A lot can happen on the long way to the market in the Ethiopian countryside. A father and his son follow all the people's good advice, then come back to their senses.

Best Short Film, Generation Kplus, Berlin

Director: Javier Fesser
Runtime: 32 min

Binta tells us about the everyday life in her village, the importance of education for the girls, and about her father's great idea to make the world a better place.

Best Live Action Short nominee: Oscars

Director: Florence Miailhe
Runtime: 15 min

Inspired by the true story of Algerian swimmer Alfred Nakache, a Jew who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany.

Best Animated Short Film nominee, Oscars

Director: Jon Kasbe
Runtime: 17 min

Amidst a blood shortage crisis and standstill traffic most hours of the day in Nigeria, it can take over 24 hours to transport blood to patients in critical need. Joseph, one of the city's motorcycle "blood riders,” can deliver blood to hospitals in under an hour. For mothers in labor, this is often the difference between life and death.

Webby Award winner
Vimeo Staff Pick & Short of the Week

Director: Bastien Dubois
Runtime: 15 min

Souvenir Souvenir is an animated documentary about the director’s unsuccessful attempts to initiate a dialogue with his grandfather about the Algerian war.

Annie Awards: Best Animated Short
Sundance: Short Film Jury Award - Animation
Oscar shortlist: Best Animated Short

Director: Francois Verster & Simon Wood
Runtime: 12 min

What happens when a major metropolitan area runs out of water? In Cape Town, South Africa, residents fear the arrival of “Day Zero,” when the city’s taps will be shut off.

World Press Photo: Online Video of the Year
Emmy nominee: Outstanding Short Documentary

Director: Jake Sumner
Runtime: 31 min

Fantastic Man follows a record label’s attempt to track down cult Nigerian musician William Onyeabor, a man shrouded in mystery and myth. In a bid to uncover the truth about his story. they speak to fans like Damon Albarn and Femi Kuti and travel to Nigeria to meet those who worked with him.

As seen on Noisey & Vice

Director: Pantera
Country: Cote d'Ivoire
Runtime: 5 min
Year: 2018

Vimeo Staff Pick

Directors: Guillaume & Jonathan Alric
Country: Algeria
Runtime: 5 min
Year: 2017

Best of the Year: Vimeo Staff Picks
+140m YouTube views

Director: Greg & Lio
Country: South Africa
Runtime: 3 min
Year: 2016

Grammy nominee: Best Music Video
+350m YouTube views

Director: Terence Neale
Country: South Africa
Runtime: 4 min
Year: 2014

+170m YouTube views

Director: Baloji
Country: Democratic Republic of Congo
Runtime: 9 min
Year: 2018

As seen on Nowness

Director: Tebogo Malope
Country: Lesotho
Runtime: 4 min
Year: 2019

As seen on Cool Hunting