FESPACO, the largest film festival in Africa opened its curtain on Saturday 25th February 2023 at Ouagadougou, the capital of  Burkina Faso.

15 fiction feature films competing for the Yennenga Golden Stallion award and a prize of about $30,000 have been chosen from 170 entries for the FESPACO festival in the nation’s capital, Ouagadougou.

The 28th edition of FESPACO, according to the festival’s president, Fidele Aymar Tamini, would be focused on “African movies and peace cultures” in light of the current crisis.

The prime minister of the festival’s honorary guest nation, the neighbouring Mali, stated that culture had an “avant-garde role to play in the peace process.”

In a performance titled “20 million VDP,” which alludes to a civilian volunteer group that supports the Burkinabe army, some 60 dancers imitated battle to the sound of beating drums on a large stage.

Also present at the ceremony was Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela, who recently proposed a federation between the West African neighbours.

The event is scheduled to last through March 4.