Afro-queer pride: What 17 editions of the Massimadi Festival have taught us

Every year since 2009, the Massimadi Festival has offered a unique space in Montreal: one where being Black and queer is not a contradiction, but an identity to be celebrated. In 17 editions, the festival has screened more than 300 Afro-queer films from nearly 46 countries. What does our programming reveal after almost two decades of highlighting our communities?

Occupying space, edition after edition

In 2009, the first edition of Massimadi presented ten films. In recent years, the selection has stabilized at around thirty works per edition despite a global context increasingly hostile to the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

The increasing number of films screened speaks volumes: Afro-queer filmmaking is flourishing, finding filmmakers willing to champion it and audiences ready to embrace it. Every film in the Massimadi Festival program is proof that the Black and queer community is not being silenced.

In seventeen years, the festival has also evolved in its form. From an essentially documentary program in its early days, reflecting a community that first had to bear witness to its existence before being able to invent it, Massimadi now presents a diversity of formats: fiction, short films, series, performances, experimental documentaries.

The diaspora as a loudspeaker for certain Afro-queer issues

Since 2009, the films in the Massimadi festival program have come from the following regions: North America dominates with nearly half of the works, followed by Europe (15%). Africa, the Caribbean, and South America account for only a quarter of the total catalogue.

This imbalance stems from hostile political contexts towards Black LGBTQ+ people, as recently seen in African news. Today, homosexuality remains criminalized in 32 out of 54 African countries. Senegal strengthened its law in March 2026, raising the maximum sentence to ten years in prison for same-sex relations. Burkina Faso criminalized them in September 2025, and Mali in December 2024.

In the Caribbean and Latin America, the contexts vary but often remain restrictive, or even dangerous.

Producing Afro-queer films from Lagos, Dakar, Kingston, or Ouagadougou is not an ordinary artistic choice. It is an act that directly impacts the safety of everyone involved.

Films that exist despite everything

Yet, despite this climate of repression, Afro-queer cinema is demonstrating resilience. Since 2009, Massimadi has programmed 39 films from the African continent, 15 from the Caribbean, and 21 from South and Central America. Seventy-five films in total, from regions where silence seemed to be the only possible choice.

Among these works, some have defied obstacles, such as Rafiki by Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya, 2018), initially banned in its country of origin. The Wound / Inxeba (South Africa, 2017) explores ritual initiation and desire in Xhosa culture, while Call Me Kuchu (Uganda, 2012) documents LGBTQ+ activism amidst criminalization.

Going back further in time, we discover Proteus (South Africa, 2003), a historical drama that breaks colonial taboos by telling a love story in prison in the 18th century, or Karmen Gei (Senegal, 2000), where Joseph Gaye Ramaka reinvents Carmen as a story of passion between two women.

These films are proof that Afro-queer creation persists and is necessary to highlight the different realities experienced by Afro-queer communities around the world.

What these 17 years really tell us

What have the 17 years of the Massimadi festival taught us? That Afro-queer pride doesn't wait for ideal conditions to exist. It creates in the margins and diversifies its forms. It asserts itself geographically despite increasingly difficult conditions on the African continent. That's why Massimadi exists: so that these voices can find their place.

With this in mind, the Foundation is proud to continue the Momentum program this fall: a mentorship project dedicated to supporting filmmakers who identify as Black and queer. Over a period of approximately eight months, selected participants take part in workshops and receive mentor support to create a short trailer for their project. The goal? To foster the development of Afro-queer film productions in Montreal and Quebec, anchoring local projects within the local film scene.