Aya Films

04/05/2024

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!

29/04/2024

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

28/04/2024

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 🌟

26/04/2024

OMEN is finally here! 🎬🥳 Grab your popcorn and rush to your nearest cinema right away 🍿 You don’t want to miss it!

24/04/2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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 🎟️

23/04/2024

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 🎟️

18/04/2024

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! 🎟️✨

17/04/2024

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! 🎟️

04/04/2024

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 🎬🍿

03/04/2024

🎉 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.

02/03/2024

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 ✨

30/01/2024

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 ✨💜

11/01/2024

13/11/2023

✨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

23/10/2023

🎉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

03/10/2023

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.

02/09/2023

✨📢 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!

30/06/2023

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.

05/06/2023

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.

28/04/2023

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/

08/12/2022

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

08/11/2022

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

04/11/2022

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/

03/11/2022

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

30/10/2022

The critics have spoken.

is screening in cinemas across the UK now ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Find a showing near you at: ayafilms.org

28/10/2022

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

27/10/2022

“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.

23/10/2022

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

21/10/2022

THE GRAVEDIGGER’S WIFE. In UK and Ireland cinemas now 🎉

Find a screening: https://www.ayafilms.org/upcoming-screenings/

21/10/2022

"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.