Aya Films Aya Films works across film distribution and curatorial education and training.
Through this we collaborate with filmmakers, curators, festivals and audiences across the world to connect, collaborate and re-imagine through cinema. We champion bold films that excite curious minds, inspire imagination, and even change how people see the world. Our distribution arm works hard to distribute these titles across a variety of different platforms; including cinemas, television broadc
asters, video on demand platforms and in-flight entertainment channels. Our platform - Curate-It - is a course that provides participants with all they need to know to implement their own screening event. We work with curators across the world to bring together film programmes which are then shown in venues and on our VoD platform.
OMEN by is making its next stops at Watershed in Bristol, Kent Palace Cinema, HOME in Manchester, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Exeter Phoenix, all this month, and finally in early June at Strode Theatre in Somerset 🇬🇧 🎬 The film is also still screening in London, catch it this week at ICA and on May 26th at Hackney Picturehouse 🍿 Stay tuned for more details!
Discover why critics can’t stop raving about OMEN by ! 🌟🎥 Screening now in selected cinema venues across the UK 🇬🇧 https://www.ayafilms.org/films/omen-augure
What an unforgettable opening weekend! 🎉 We began with a thrilling Q&A screening at the fully packed BFI Southbank, hosted by Dailies this Friday, and we are not stopping there! 🎬✨ Join us for the last special Q&A session with Baloji tonight at Ritzy Picturehouse. Tickets are disappearing faster than you can say ‘OMEN,’ so don’t hesitate and sprint to book yours before it’s too late! 🏃♂️🎟️ And that’s not all – we’ve got screenings happening all across the UK. Details and tickets here: https://www.ayafilms.org/films/omen-augure 🌟
OMEN is finally here! 🎬🥳 Grab your popcorn and rush to your nearest cinema right away 🍿 You don’t want to miss it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in The Guardian! ‘A dynamic, teemingly populated, multistranded and tonally elusive picture’ - OMEN by Baloji is just around the corner now 🍿🎬 Catch it this weekend in a cinema near you 🎟️
Join us in cinemas across the UK, from the busy streets of London to the vibrant city of Glasgow, and everywhere in between, to experience the unforgettable cinematic journey of OMEN by . 🎬 Starting on Friday 26th! 🌟🍿
📍Mac Birmingham
📍Watershed, Bristol
📍Exeter Phoenix
📍Glasgow Film Theatre
📍Palace Cinema, Kent
📍Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds
📍Phoenix Leicester
📍BFI Southbank, London
📍Ritzy Picturehouse, London
📍Hackney Picturehouse, London
📍ICA, London
📍Shoreditch Arts Club, London
📍HOME, Manchester
📍Broadway, Nottingham
📍Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford
📍Showroom Workstation, Sheffield
📍Strode Theatre, Somerset
Book your tickets here: https://www.ayafilms.org/films/omen-augure 🎟️
Just 8 days until Baloji’s Omen hits UK screens! 🍿 Get ready to immerse yourself in its breathtaking visuals and captivating narration. Book your tickets now through the link in our bio! 🎟️✨
Prepare to be haunted by Baloji’s OMEN 🔮✨ Coming to UK cinemas from April 26th! Click the link in bio to book your tickets for this spine-tingling experience. You don’t wanna miss it! 🎟️
Meet Baloji, the visionary director behind OMEN.
The film is accompanied by a four-part album - each one inspired by the four main characters in OMEN! Out TOMORROW! 🎶✨
OMEN is coming to UK cinemas from 26 April. You can meet the director in person during special Q&A screenings to chat about his extraordinary film and music:
🌟 April 26th, 6 PM 📍 BFI SOUTHBANK, London
🌟 April 27th, 6 PM 📍 CURZON SOHO, London
🌟 April 28th, 5 PM 📍 RITZY PICTUREHOUSE, London
Get ready for an unforgettable experience on and expanding beyond the screen 🎬🍿
🎉 Exciting News Alert! 🎉 We’re thrilled to announce three special Q&A screenings of OMEN with director ! Prepare your questions and mark your calendars 😎🍿
🌟 26 April 6 PM 📍 BFI SOUTHBANK, London
🌟 27 April 6 PM 📍 CURZON SOHO, London
🌟 28 April 5 PM 📍 RITZY PICTUREHOUSE, London
BOOK HERE: https://www.ayafilms.org/films/omen-augure
Stay tuned for more screening updates soon.
Baloji’s directorial debut film OMEN is coming to UK cinemas from 26 April 🖤
Find out more about this magic realist film, his influences and accompanying album in Songlines mag this month ✨
Curate-It is now live and kicking and out in the world 🥳!
The app aims to demystify film curation and event production. It is an in-depth, step-by-step course through which you can learn the theoretical and practical processes of film curation.
The introductory package also includes 6 monthly masterclasses with film experts, plus a one-to-one to discuss your ideas.
The app contains:
✅Lots of info
✅Expert videos
✅A messenger function
✅Activities
✅A notebook
✅The option to host your own events online and generate income.
Bursaries are available.
More info in bio.
Thanks to for the lovely animation ✨💜
✨The ocean is calling and so are the critics! ✨
Don’t miss this cinematic masterpiece out this week in UK cinemas!
‘Dazzlingly luminescent’ - Sight and Sound
‘A gorgeously rendered West African fable, tinged with mysticism’ - LA Times
‘A mesmerising West African folk tale’ - IndieWire
‘Haunting and ravishing’ - New York Times
For screenings and tickets see here: https://www.ayafilms.org/films/mami-wata
🎉Official poster for the UK release of Mami Wata. In cinemas across the country from 17 October, with the support of and .
🎤 Q&A screenings with director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi and Producer Oge Obasi at:
Saturday 18 November (matinee)
BFI Southbank NFT1
Saturday 18 November
Ritzy, London
Sunday 19 November
Garden Cinema (Black to the Future Film Festival)
Sunday 19 November
Picturehouse Central, London
Monday 20 November
Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford
Tuesday 21 November
Showroom, Sheffield
Wednesday 22 November
Hyde Park Picturehouse, Leeds
Thursday 23 November
Picturehouse @ FACT, Liverpool
Friday 24 November
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow
List to book Q&A dates, and for latest list of upcoming screenings here: https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings
Launching CineAstra 🚀✨a collaborative festival that brings together curators, festivals, artists and local businesses across Glasgow. Taking place in Glasgow and online between 27 Oct - 5 Nov.
Inspired by connecting constellations the festival name combines the words cineaste ‘someone with a love of cinema’ with astra which means star in Greek.
The programme has been carefully and collaboratively created by 5 early-career and 4 mid-career curators, and a number of wonderful partner organisations.
So come and journey with us over 10 days to find comfort in a cosmic space blanket, visit q***r representations through time, experience sonic sound experiences, Iraqi cuisine and heritage, sensory experimentation through film, considerations of our environment and much more.
See more info on the programme here: https://app.curate-it.co.uk/watch
Thanks for the poster design.
✨📢 Get ready for the bold docu-fiction Ramona (Victoria Linares Villegas, Dominican Republic 2023). Premiering in the UK at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, the film is a beautiful blend of genres centring the collective gaze.
It follows a young actress preparing to undertake the role of a pregnant teenager and embarks on interviewing young women about pregnancy and motherhood. In the process the girls candidly recount their lives, their circumstances, and their views on how the character of Ramona should appear. Each character adds to the direction of the lead protagonist and the film becomes an ode to the power of collaborative creativity.
Festival tickets go on sale September 12!
We are excited to announce the acquisition of the genre-bending, Nigerian fantasy film MAMI WATA Movie. The film will be released in UK cinemas this Autumn!
Written and directed by C.J. 'Fiery' Obasi this modern fable combines fantasy, mythology, and fashion with vivid black-and-white cinematography to bring a story centring West African water deity, Mami Wata, to the screen.
We have rebranded 🥳!!
You can find out more about how Aya started, the curatorial ethos and our future plans here: www.ayafilms.org/discussion/aya-films-rebrands
Thanks so much to Nänni-pää for the beautiful new designs and PurpleSpider for the website.
Returning for the second year, applications to the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Curate-It fellowship programmes are open.
If you are keen to learn about the practices of film curation and put on a screening event, this is the course for you!
https://www.curate-it.co.uk/opportunity-eiff-curation-fellowships-2023/
in The Guardian’s best films of the year! ❤️
Our countdown of the best films released in the UK this year continues with jailed Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Joanna Hogg’s double-Swinton sequel and a disturbing drama about mass killer Martin Bryant
Some more 📷 highlights from our Q&A tour with Khadar Ayderus Ahmed and Omar Abdi.
The film is still playing in selected cinemas, including in London, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leicester and across Scotland as part of our Film Hub Scotland supported programme ‘Somali Stories’.
Find a screening near you: https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings
Photo credits:
1-3,5,7-9: Dionne Walker
4,6,10: Erika Steveson
Missed out on sold out screenings of in Birmingham, Leicester or London? We’ve added more dates to these cities and more!
Don’t miss your chance to see Khadar Ayderus Ahmed's award-winning debut feature on the big screen.
Latest list of upcoming UK-wide screenings here:https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings/
Presenting SOMALI STORIES, a touring programme celebrating Somali film and art across Scotland, with the support of Film Hub Scotland.
Catch screenings of Khadar Ayderus Ahmed's + shorts + food + performances in Glasgow, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee, Inverness, Cromarty and Aberfeldy this November/December.
Find out more: https://www.ayafilms.org/blog/somali-stories/
Programme coordinated by: Najma Abukar
Artwork by: Mohamed Warsame
The critics have spoken.
is screening in cinemas across the UK now ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Find a showing near you at: ayafilms.org
Some 📷 highlights from our Q&A tour so far!
Still four stops to go. Come and see Khadar Ayderus Ahmed and Omar Abdi in Liverpool (28th), Birmingham (29th), Glasgow (30th) or Edinburgh (31st). Or catch the film at a cinema near you: https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings/
Photo credits:
1,9,10: Charley Williams Photo
2,5,7,8: Kingsley from Freezeframe Media
“I forgot I was watching a film – it felt like I was witnessing an enduring love unfold.”
- Black Ballad’s Iman Mohamed on Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s .
In UK & Ireland cinemas now.
The Grave Digger’s Wife is the first Somali film to reach a British audience in the cinemas. It is also a beautiful and humanising portrayal of family and community.
Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for in The Observer today!
In cinemas across UK & Ireland now.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/23/the-gravediggers-wife-review-powerful-djiboutian--fable-about-family-bonds-khadar-ayderus-ahmed
THE GRAVEDIGGER’S WIFE. In UK and Ireland cinemas now 🎉
Find a screening: https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings/
"an understated creation of flair and grace."
Ahead of Reviews Editor Arjun Sajip’s opening night Q&A with lead actor Omar Abdi at Ritzy Cinema tonight, read BFI's Sight & Sound Magazine's review of Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s .
The first Somali-language film ever to be released in UK cinemas nationwide, Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s debut feature is an understated creation of flair and grace.
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Curate-It is now live and kicking and out in the world 🥳! The app aims to demystify film curation and event production. It is an in-depth, step-by-step course through which you can learn the theoretical and practical processes of film curation. The introductory package also includes 6 monthly masterclasses with film experts, plus a one-to-one to discuss your ideas. The app contains: ✅Lots of info ✅Expert videos ✅A messenger function ✅Activities ✅A notebook ✅The option to host your own events online and generate income. Bursaries are available. More info in bio. Thanks to @yassminebetioui for the lovely animation ✨💜
📢✨ Award-winning fantasy, fable MAMI WATA is coming to UK cinemas on 17 November, with the support of #NationalLottery and @britishfilminstitute Watch the UK trailer. Screenings info coming soon. Thanks Rauni Barros Da Silva for the trailer @truevisionfeatures_ _ @kingrauni
The critics have spoken. #TheGravediggersWife is screening in cinemas across the UK now ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Find a showing near you at: ayafilms.org
📣OPPORTUNITY📣 Curate-It, in partnership with Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), is excited to offer seven 13-week Curation Fellowships for candidates at the beginning of their careers who are keen to develop their skills in film curation. Successful candidates will learn about the practices of film curation and in the process implement their own screening event as part of the 75th edition of EIFF. NOTE: These paid fellowships are aimed specifically at applicants from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the film exhibition sector. They are open to Scottish-based talents who share a protected characteristic and identify with one or more of these categories: women, non-binary people, and agender people. Deadline Friday 29 April. Apply now: https://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/curate-it #CurateIt
Born in Flames post screening discussion with Project Myopia
A conversation on mental health within the LGBTQIA+ community.
We are delighted to announce that This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection will show as part of the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival's New Cinema Competition. The festival will take place online from (today) Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October 2020.
Wax Print + Live Q&A with Aiwan Obinyan
Please watch and share this wonderful animation from the African Animation Studio informing children about why it is important to stay indoors during COVID-19. Stay safe everyone ❤️
If you haven't seen Sprinter yet, what are you waiting for? The film is in cinemas all across the country NOW. Find a showing near you & get tickets: https://www.sprinterthefilm.com/uk-showings #SprinterTheFilm Kush Films Online BFI
The moment where everything changes... Edinburgh, the wait is over. The beautiful Kenyan love story Rafiki Movie opens at Filmhouse TOMORROW! 💞 You can catch screenings (and feelings) every day until 25 Apr. Get tickets: https://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/rafiki #RafikiMovie
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Aya Distribution is an international sales and distribution company with a particular focus on African cinema. We distribute pioneering titles that excite curious minds, inspire imagination, and even change how people see the world. Our unique catalogue is comprised of award-winning feature films and documentaries from Africa, Europe and the US. Our sales and distribution arm works hard to distribute these titles across a variety of different platforms; including cinemas, DVD distributors, television broadcasters, video on demand platforms and in-flight entertainment channels.
