FIFF Cotonou 2026: Canal+ Benin remains committed to promoting African women’s cinema.

From February 3 to 7, 2026, Cotonou hosts the fourth edition of the Festival International des Films de Femmes (FIFF COTONOU), a biennial event dedicated to promoting African cinema led by women. Supported since its creation by CANAL+ Bénin, the event confirms its ambition to make Benin a crossroads for African women’s cinema and the diaspora.

FIFF COTONOU 2026 is set to be one of the showcases for women’s cinema in Africa. Screenings, training, professional meetings, and awards will mark this edition, sponsored by actress Aïssata Maïga, with a jury chaired by Eva Guehi, a prominent CANAL+ executive.

At the press conference announcing the 2026 edition, Cornélia Glèlè, Director of the Festival International des Films de Femmes de Cotonou, recalled the festival’s founding philosophy, launched in 2019.

« The Festival International des Films de Femmes de Cotonou is a festival we launched in 2019, which is a biennial held every two years. It is a festival generally focused around three main axes. The first is women, the second is an educational aspect, and the third is tourism. »

For this fourth edition, the festival highlights films directed by women from Africa and the diaspora, with a program designed as a space for expression and recognition.

« The FIFI Cotonou 2026 is a wonderful event that will take place from February 3 to 7 next week. We will see films directed by women from Africa and the diaspora. And we will wrap it all up with a teens’ night at Villa Kaya, where we hosted a party called Shot, Shot, Shot. And we finish in style at the Amazon Square on Saturday, February 7, where we will award prizes to deserving films, » she explained.

CANAL+ Bénin, a historic and engaged partner

Present alongside FIFF since its first edition, CANAL+ Bénin reaffirms its commitment to African cinema and women’s empowerment. For Yacine Alao, CEO of CANAL+ Bénin, this loyalty is above all a conviction. « We have been supporting FIFI since 2019 now, so we are at the fourth edition. We are proud and honored to be able to support this kind of initiative. »

The highlight of this edition lies notably in supporting the Kino Wendia project, an initiative for training and collective creation aimed at young girls. « The particularity of this year is that we supported Kino Wenja, which is basically an initiative that offers 12 girls between 14 and 21 years old who have been selected from across the country, an opportunity to tell their own stories and to create a film. So basically, it’s a two-month initiative where we will train them in the craft of cinema, so that they can produce a short film. », clarified Yacine Alao.

« So we are extremely happy, extremely proud to be able to support FIFI once again and the entire FIFI team, who work tirelessly to deliver a high-quality edition at each edition, » she adds.

Cinema as an Industry and a Lever for Development

Beyond artistic creation, FIFF COTONOU is part of a dynamic to structure the Beninese film industry. A vision shared by the Agency for the Development of Arts and Culture (ADAC). « ADAC is honored to partner with this event. You know we have a mission to also support the cinema industry in Méden, to ensure its development, » testified William Codjo, Director of ADAC.

« Through cinema, we can do many other things. So it’s a complex industry, which even presents itself in the non-traditional global arena. An industrializing industry, » he added.

Through this 2026 edition, FIFF COTONOU confirms its role as a platform for discovery, training, and valorizations of African women’s talent. Supported by CANAL+ Bénin, the festival is increasingly establishing itself as a strategic space where the future of African women’s cinema is taking shape, between creation, transmission, and continental reach.