safari movie characters

Top 18 Safari Movies to watch before your African Safari

• January 29, 2020
• Author & Photographer: Teri Didjurgis

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. ( Disclosures )

Films to inspire your African Safari

My earliest memory of opening up a National Geographic magazine was seeing elephants, lion, zebras, rhinos and other animals in Africa along with tribes and cultures so distant to mine.

Going on safari has been a dream to have a unique experience of seeing this wildlife adventure, experiencing different cultures and spectacular scenery! 

Until my first trip to Africa, I explored through these safari films featuring the breathtaking landscapes, historical events of locals and human interactions with wildlife and the stars of the savannah featuring conservation programs and struggles to preserve them.

Out of Africa (1985)

• Available on Amazon

The movie, Out of Africa , inspired many a traveler to take a trip to Africa and specifically Kenya. The movie features breathtaking scenery of Kenya including the areas around Nairobi and the Maasai Mara.

The movie, based on the book by Karen Blixen , is a memoir of her life in the early 1900’s in Kenya, then known as British East Africa to colonists. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford play the lead characters for this romance, though I believe the true romance of the film is Karen falling in love with the land and people of Kenya.

Karen writes and reveals in the movie her own personal experience as a woman in this time period running a coffee plantation in spite of her absent husband and interactions with locals many of which were part of the infamous Happy Valley Set of the Kenya Colony in the 1920’s. The story touches on events of the time including colonialism, World War I, shooting safaris and her interactions with the local Kikuyu tribe. A distance time.

On a trip to Kenya, you can visit her home and conversations with the locals will reveal that the love went both ways. Karen introduced Kenya to many in the world both through her 1937 book and the subsequent 1985 Academy Award winning film.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Gorillas in the Mist is another true story based on the life of Dian Fossey. The story tells the tale of the naturalist, played by Sigourney Weaver, and her relationship with the group of primates she studies in the Congo.

Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in so doing becomes obsessed with the beasts’ well-being. Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Ugandan government, which dismisses her by explaining that poaching is the only means by which some of the Ugandan natives can themselves survive.

With the threat of poachers hovering in the background and strife all around in Rwanda, there’s high drama as well as some magnificent footage of real gorillas in their natural habitat.

BBC Africa (2013)

The BBC created this incredible six-part mini series, BBC Africa , on Africa’s wild places and wildlife.

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, he takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through on of the most diverse places on earth including the Kalahari desert, the Sahara Desert, the savannah of East Africa, and jungles of the Congo as well as diverse wildlife including black rhinos, mountain gorillas, and much more of Africa’s amazing wildlife.

The Last Lions (2012)

From the lush wetlands of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, this documentary focuses on one lioness, named Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions”), as she tries to protect her cubs against the many threats they face in the wild including poaching.

The Last Lions is a documentary film about the heartbreaking decline of the lion population in Africa. Fifty years ago there were close to 500 million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000.

Lions, unlike elephants which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. The safari eco-tourist industry brings in over 200 billion dollars per year with lions being a top “must-see” and yet little is done to protect the lions. In addition, big cats are at the very top of the food chain and their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them in ecosystem collapse.

The documentary was made in collaboration between National Geographic and their Explorers-in-Residence, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, who are filmmakers from Botswana. The film is narrated by Jeremy Irons.

The Ivory Game

• Available on Netflix

It takes 2 seconds seeing a parade of elephants in the wild to be enthralled by these highly intelligent and emotional beasts. The interactions between the young bulls and then groups of mothers and their calves show the complexity of their family relationships.

The movie, Ivory Game , is a documentary revealing the Ivory Trade industry endangering the elephants. The filmmakers show all side of this Ivory industry from the insatiable Chinese market and the local poachers to the wildlife conversationalists and government programs to save the elephants.

I watched this movie on the night before I went on a week long safari in Tanzania where the documentary is partially filmed. As a tourist, I just in awe of seeing these animals, but the documentary provided the rich context of ecosystems in Africa where local poachers living in poverty are enticed to sell off the expensive ivory by dealers and also local people are losing crops when the elephants migrate.

The filmmakers looks at all sides working on solutions to save both the elephants and locals interests while stopping the Ivory Trade.

Born Free (1966)

Born Free  is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilderness of Kenya.

At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson (Bill Travers) and his wife, Joy (Virginia McKenna), care for three orphaned lion cubs. The lion cubs parents were killed after attacking villagers.

After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall (Geoffrey Keen) demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.

The making of the film was a life-changing experience for actors Virginia McKenna and her husband Bill Travers, who became animal rights activists and were instrumental in creating the  Born Free Foundation .

To Walk with Lions (1999)

To Walk with Lions  is a 1999 film directed by Carl Schultz and starring Richard Harris as George Adamson. 

It follows the later years of wild game preserver/naturalist Adamson whose life was transformed into an animal activist after his experience saving a lion cub shown in the movie Born Free .

After his marriage to Joy Adamson ended, Adamson spent the latter part of his life protecting the lions and other wildlife in the Kora National Reserve, Kenya. His program helps ease zoo-bred lions into their natural habitat. The fact-based film focuses on his struggle against poachers and government corruption blocking his quest for wildlife preservation.

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Set in 1898 and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas, The Ghost and the Darkness is based on the true story of two lions in East Africa that killed dozens of people working on a railroad.

Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project’s foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

Don’t let this movie put you off safaris. This true story will highlight the struggles in Africa between local populations, development and wildlife that has been a part of their story for over a hundred years.

The Lion King (1994)

When you think of safaris and big game, it’s hard not to immediately imagine the Circle of Life scene from the beginning of Disney’s epic African adventure,  The Lion King . It might be animation and talking lions rather than real life nature scenes, but adults and kids alike can’t fail to be inspired to take a safari holiday after watching Simba on screen.

The Disney imagineers definitely did their homework. On safari, you will find many of the names of the animals are Swahili and the characteristics of the animals is spot on. I especially saw it in cranky old bachelor lions and the Pummba.

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Everyone’s favorite jungle hero has been the subject of many films over the Hollywood years.

In The Legend of Tarzan , it’s been nearly a decade since Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), also known as John Clayton III, left Africa to live in Victorian England with his wife Jane.

Danger lurks on the horizon as Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), a treacherous envoy for King Leopold, devises a scheme that lures the couple to the Congo.

Rom plans to capture Tarzan and deliver him to an old enemy in exchange for diamonds. When Jane becomes a pawn in his devious plot, Tarzan must return to the jungle to save the woman he loves.

Other Disney Animated versions

• Tarzan (2014)
• The Jungle Book (2016)
• The Jungle Book (1967)

I will always be partial to The Jungle Book (1967) for the music.  You can’t help but hum “The Bare Necessities”  or “I wanna be like you” after hearing it.

Road to Zanzibar (1941)

Road to Zanzibar is a trip back to old Hollywood. 

After the success of contemporary films in the safari genre, Bob Hope parodies African adventures with this farce.

The movie is classic Hollywood with ridiculous scenarios including love triangles, races through the jungle, swimming with leopards and plenty of jewels, the fast-paced comedy is a fun trip.

The African Queen (1952)

Another one from old Hollywood, Th e African Queen focuses on life in Africa during World War II.

After religious spinster’s (Katharine Hepburn) missionary brother is killed in WWI Africa, dissolute steamer captain (Humphrey Bogart) offers her safe passage. She’s not satisfied so she persuades him to destroy a German gunboat. The two spend most of their time fighting with each other rather than the Germans. In true Hollywood fashion, time alone on the river leads to love.

The movie, shot in Uganda and the Congo, was one of the first movies to use real locations and backgrounds.

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

Clint Eastwood’s film is based loosely on the experiences of writer Peter Viertel and director John Huston on the set of The African Queen . 

Love trumps in the 1950s classic The Africa Queen, but White Hunter Black Heart is much darker and explores the morality of hunting wild animals.

Hard-living, macho movie director John Wilson (Clint Eastwood) arrives in 1950s Zimbabwe to prepare for his next film. Accompanied by screenwriter Pete Verrill (Jeff Fahey), Wilson becomes far more interested in shooting an elephant than getting ready for the shoot.

Determined, Wilson moves production to a village where a native hunter helps him in his quest. Obsessed with this goal even as filming grows ever more chaotic, the director begins to question the ethics and origins of his fixation.

King Solomon’s Mines (1950)

King Solomon’s Mines , based on H. Rider Haggard’s novel is about a rescue party that sets out to find an explorer who has disappeared on an African treasure hunt.

The search leads the party across the continent and through the terrors of jungle, swamp, and desert.

Their ultimate destination is the fabled lost mine of Solomon, a source of unimaginable wealth and deadly danger.

There is also a 1985 version of King Solomon’s Mines starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, which has a more Indiana Jones feel.

Mogambo (1953)

In M ogambo , Victor Marswell (Clark Gable) is a big-game hunter in Kenya. After Eloise Kelly (Ava Gardner) is stood up by a friend there, she falls in with Marswell.

Shortly thereafter, the Nordleys (Grace Kelly, Donald Sinden) arrive for a gorilla safari. Mrs. Nordley, disillusioned with her husband, takes a liking to Marswell, and the two have a brief affair. Kelly grows jealous, and the two women engage in a battle of wills over the hunter, while Mr. Nordley remains oblivious to it all. 

This is an old classic Hollywood triangle filmed in Kenya and Uganda. The music featured in the film was mostly performed by local native tribes.

Hatari! (1962)

Hatari , meaning “Danger” in Swahili , stars the legendary John Wayne takes the cowboy from the Old West to the African landscape. Filmed in Tanzania in the Ngorongoro Crater, this old Hollywood film is about a group of who traps animals for zoos. While not an activity I endorse today, this was the historical reality at the time.

A female wildlife photographer joins the group to document and finds herself the mother of baby elephants she tries to save.

The movie features the amazing scenery and wildlife of Tanzania and I recognized many of the places still from my recent safari.

The Naked Prey (1966)

The Naked Prey is set in the South African veld. This eerie movie starring Cornel Wilde is a dark tale that switched the traditional roles of a hunting safari.

The guide leads a troop of hunters through a tribe’s colony to start the hunt, but when the group offends the locals, he finds himself in the role of the animals – naked and being chased through the landscape by warriors from the tribe.

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Passion for Life

The Young Indiana Jones is a TV series, created by Steven Spielberg, featuring a 10 and later 17-year-old Indiana Jones on his adventures in his early year.  The set includes 3 seasons and 24 episodes

The “Passion for Life” episode focuses on a 10-year-old Indiana Jones as he goes on safari with his parent in British East Africa in September 1910.

Young Jones befriends a Massai boy named Meto who helps him in his search for the rare Fringe-Eared Oryx for former US President Teddy Roosevelt.

The scenery is spectacular and in typical Indiana Jones style, an adventure ensues as Indy finds himself in the middle of it all.   The episode is one hour, but the DVD set also has a complimentary disc with documentaries exploring the themes in each episode with historical clips and commentary.

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19 Inspirational Safari Movies

Watch a classic safari movie before you go.

Getting excited about an upcoming African safari holiday? Hollywood has a long history of creative safari movies about all things Africa and wildlife – dating back to 1932’s “Congorilla” documentary of jungle and savannah wildlife activity in Belgian Congo (now D.R. Congo).

The genre has evolved over the decades, meaning there is now a good choice of films available to bring the magic of the safari experience into your living room. Check out our list below of the most inspirational safari movies to watch before you go – the first section of the list features traditional movies, and the latter section focusses on documentary safari movies. All are highly recommended and well worth viewing!

Out of Africa

A Hollywood classic, Out of Africa is one of those rare films that you can’t fail to fall in love with. Whether you’re watching it for the dazzling scenery of the Kenyan landscapes or the drama and romance, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford make for compelling viewing in this tale of Africa, war, and wildlife.

[amazon box=”0783240171″ template=”vertical”]

Gorillas in the Mist

Like Out of Africa , the movie is based on a true story, but here the similarities end. Instead of a romantic interest, Gorillas in the Mist tells the tale of naturalist Sigourney Weaver’s touching relationship with the group of primates she studies in the Rwandan jungle . With the threat of poachers hovering in the background and strife all around in Rwanda, there’s high drama as well as some magnificent footage of real gorillas in their natural habitat.

[amazon box=”B00GLP84BU” template=”vertical”]

The Lion King

When you think of safaris and big game, it’s hard not to immediately imagine the Circle of Life scene from the beginning of Disney’s epic African adventure, The Lion King. It might be animation and talking lions rather than real-life nature scenes, but adults and kids alike can’t fail to be inspired to take a safari holiday after watching Simba on screen!

Lion King fan? Read our take on Hakuna Matata meaning .

[amazon box=”B007453GYG” template=”vertical”]

The African Queen

An old fashioned tale of action, romance, and daring exploits in the wilds of the jungle, The African Queen is a fantastic romp with two of the era’s best-loved actors – Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Shot in Uganda and the Congo, it was one of the first movies to use real locations and backgrounds which adds an unparalleled realism to the story.

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White Hunter Black Heart

Clint Eastwood’s film is based loosely on the experiences of writer Peter Viertel and director John Huston on the set of The Africa Queen. But whilst love triumphs over all in the 1950s classic, this movie is much darker and explores the morality of hunting wild animals. When filmmaker John Wilson becomes obsessed with the safari and elephants, disaster begins to stir. White Hunter Black Heart is a must watch!

[amazon box=”B003AWRMCY” template=”vertical”]

This interesting film starring the legendary John Wayne removes the cowboy from his favourite setting and transports him to a vast African landscape. Filmed in Tanzania , it’s a dramatic story about a group of hunters, a female wildlife photographer and the race to save a group of baby elephants from a terrible fate – life in a zoo. With exhilarating wildlife chases and magnificent Mount Meru providing a dramatic backdrop, Hatari! is a thrilling romp of a safari movie.

[amazon box=”B072ZLG4RV” template=”vertical”]

Road to Zanzibar

After the success of contemporary films in the safari genre, Bob Hope parodies African adventures with this comic farce. Involving love triangles, races through the jungle, swimming with leopards and plenty of jewels, the fast-paced comedy is a fun trip set in 1940’s Africa.

[amazon box=”B00005UMFA” template=”vertical”]

The Naked Prey

Set in the veld of South Africa, The Naked Prey is an eerie movie starring Cornel Wilde in a dark tale that switches the traditional roles of a hunting safari. The guide (Wilde) leads a troop of hunters through an African tribe to start the hunt, but when the group offends the locals, he finds himself in the role of the animals – naked and being chased through the landscape by warriors from the tribe.

[amazon box=”B07FMQ2H51″ template=”vertical”]

Everyone’s favourite African jungle hero has been the subject of many films over the Hollywood years, but in 1999 Disney gave him a 3D makeover and plenty of animated jungle action before the happy ending with Jane. Featuring a paranoid elephant and a smart-mouthed gorilla, Tarzan   is a family film that brings the jungle to life with sweeping scenes.

[amazon box=”B000AAF1TU” template=”vertical”]

Married couple George Adamson and Joy Adamson live in northern Kenya for George’s work as a senior game warden. After George’s team have to kill a man-eating lion and its lioness, their three young female cubs being orphaned. Although difficult to begin with, George and Joy wean and take care of the three cubs, who they adopt as pets. Born Free is a classic film about safari life in Africa, heartwarming, and with stunning human – big cat interaction.

[amazon box=”B07DL5XJXC” template=”vertical”]

To Walk With Lions

To Walk With Lions follows the later years of the life of George Adamson who was featured saving a lion cub in the safari movie Born Free . His life was transformed with this action, and he went on to become a lifelong animal activist. Well worth a watch in tandem with Born Free .

[amazon box=”B00005LOUN” template=”vertical”]

Something of an amusingly naff found footage film set in the South African bush. In a wild corner of the country, a young Zulu girl teams up with an American tourist group on safari. The group enters an uncharted area where they are forced to face the untamed wild.

[amazon box=”B00JFOV6FK” template=”vertical”]

Documentary Safari Movies:

The six-part mini-series, narrated by David Attenborough, takes an in-depth look at various African habitats and the wildlife that inhabit them. Each episode is wonderful, and the highlights for pre-safari viewing are on the African deserts – the Kalahari, Namib, and Sahara, the savanna of East Africa, and the rainforests of the Congo Basin.

[amazon box=”B00AK7806E” template=”vertical”]

The Last Lions

This is a feature-length National Geographic documentary filmed in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region  and narrated by Jeremy Irons. It focusses on one lioness raising her cubs and protecting them against the many threats they face, including poaching. Whilst the film is about this one mother, it deals more broadly with the decline of the African lion from a population of many millions in the 20th century to just 20,000 today.

[amazon box=”B005Z2D88O” template=”vertical”]

The Ivory Game

This 2016 documentary examines the global ivory trade and the various actors sustaining and fighting it, examine the actions of governments, environmental preservationists, poachers, and ivory merchants. The film takes viewers from the elephant’s home ranges in Tanzania, Kenya, and Zambia to China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam where ivory is seen as a status symbol, and demand is rife. As with so many other movies on this list, it’s one that’s well worth watching if you hope to see elephants on your next safari.

Watch now on Netflix

Battle at Kruger

OK, we know it’s not actually a safari move, but no list of this nature would be complete without reference to the most epic homemade safari video ever! If you’ve not yet seen it, set aside eight minutes right now to watch this confrontation between a herd of buffalo , a pride of lions and a crocodile . (Read up on battle at Kruger .)

Any classic safari movies we’re missing from the list? Please let us know in the comments below! Made it to the end of our safari film list and still have itchy feet? Check out these 50 movies to inspire wanderlust .

Other significant African movies

Whilst not specifically safari movies, these films listed below are all set – and filmed – in Africa, where the landscape and culture play a significant part. All well worth adding to your ‘to watch’ list before you take a safari!

Blood Diamond (2006)

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in a  war thriller smuggling diamonds, set against the backdrop of the Sierra Leone civil war.

[amazon box=”B00005JPGO” template=”vertical”]

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

This moving drama is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager of  Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the Rwandan civil war.

[amazon box=”B00CDDH6PY” template=”vertical”]

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

A historical drama about Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan who becomes the personal physician and close confidante of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

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BORN FREE should also be included in this list. One of the best African / Kenya / Safari movies ever!!

Great shout Vince – added!

My candidate for the single best safari film of all time is King Solomon’s Mines, the one with Debra Kerr and Stewart Granger (it made him an international star). It was the third of five filmings of H. Rider Haggard’s novel.

It had the most authentic tribesmen, and its iconic drum music was recycled in countless safari “B” movies as well as in John Ford’s Mogambo, another good African movie.

I’m going to have to check that one out David, thanks for the recommendation!

Nowhere in africa

Safari movies: Mogambo, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Ghost and the Darkness

All around Africa movies: The Power of One,Tarzan: The Legend of Greystoke, Cry Freedom, Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, Blood Diamond

Hey Mark – some excellent choices there, and a couple I haven’t seen yet. Will check them out, thanks!

Pls I want to know the name of a comedy movie in Africa jungle where in one occasion in the movie African man was squatting then a helicopter with rope hanging catched his pants and continue flying then the man eventually got his head straight into a hippopotamus’s anus.

One I enjoyed from my childhood was A Far Off Place, starring Reese Witherspoon.

Thanks for the tip – I’ve not heard of that one, will check it out!

Oh, and George of the Jungle and Sahara. I realize they’re not Safari films, but set in Africa, at least.

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2013 Directed by Darrell James Roodt

This is Africa

Safari is an American, found footage thriller film, set in South African wild, where animals and poachers rule the land. Two worlds collide when Mbali, a young zulu girl, meets an American tourist group who have come to explore and go on safari in South Africa. Things take a wrong turn after the group enter uncharted hunting grounds where they are forced to face the untamed wild.

Kim Argetsinger Carly Bailey Carl Beukes Chloe Kirby Rocky Myers Lee-Anne Summers Robert Palmer Watkins Thulasizwe Kubheka

Director Director

Darrell James Roodt

Producer Producer

Anton Ernst

Writer Writer

Tyler Hisel

Casting Casting

Sascha Rasmussen

Cinematography Cinematography

Trevor A. Brown

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

RJ Collins Tyler Hisel Alexander Robb Jay Judah

Stunts Stunts

Antony Stone

Sound Sound

Michael Capuano Chris Hall

Thaba Media

South Africa USA

Releases by Date

29 oct 2013, 28 may 2014, releases by country.

• Physical 16
• Theatrical U

90 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Chris Brown ★★

Great idea. Great setting. So its a real shame that the drama, horror and dialogue are ridiculous and cliché. Had the script been worked on rather than just relying on found footage tropes, I may have heard of this film before yesterday.

Review by Ruslan Mavrodinov ★½

Dumb, absurd and poorly acted, Safari earns a bonus point for its somewhat original premise and the sense of desperation it evokes (even managing to squeeze a lazy pro-environmental message in its brief running time amidst all the gore, chaos and annoying characters), but ultimately works better as a safari-travelogue-gone-wrong than as a passable found-footage thriller.

Review by Ben Grimm ★★½

In this found footage movie from South Africa, American couples go on a safari and are recording the experience when they get separated and lost in the middle of nowhere. They find a local girl and try to navigate the African wilderness in order to get home. 

I’m a found footage fan and was hoping that a non paranormal, non extraterrestrial found footage movie would seem more ... real. All the normal found footage tropes are here. Questions of why they are still recording when the shit goes down as well as how does someone have that much battery life. I guess it was more realistic. It was just that I hated all the characters and did not want to spend time with them. In the end I’d give it an average 2.5/5.

________________________________________________________ Watched as part of the March Around the World Challenge 2019 on Letterboxd. Country: South Africa Source: Tubitv  ________________________________________________________

Review by sslssg ½

I love found footage movies. They are such a guilty pleasure for me. Though with this film, I have never wanted characters to die so much as I did in the first 15 minutes. Not that anyone who sees this would be stupid enough to try, but you don't pet animals you see in the bush. (I just feel the need to throw that in just in case). Typical shaky cam, but there were many moments in this where you wonder why the hell they are still filming. Long story short, I don't recommend this movie.

Review by frankryan ★★★

I found myself really enjoying this one. It was an interesting departure from paranormal and serial killer found footage films. Sure, the acting was stilted and the dialogue cliched, but it was an ultimately easy watch.

Review by Leo1963 ★★

Only character I cared about was little girl.

Review by Justin H ★★★

Not a textbook definition of a good film, but I liked the setting a lot and was well paced for what it is. Probably wouldn't watch it again if given the choice, but I wasn't bored with it which is a step up to some of the crapfest films i've subjected myself to.

Review by Russell ★★★

A 3 star rating has never weighed so heavy on me. Safari is not a good film and almost a textbook example of a production misunderstanding their in-world-camera narrative. For example Safari is bookended by non in-world-camera footage, which will instantly lose 80% of the voyeurs on any streaming service. The story is so heavily scripted that the pursuit of verisimilitude is non-existent. Then consider that our characters are threatened mainly by the presence of wild animals who aren't actually there. Which could have been a major disaster if it weren't for some effective editing.

I think what I'm trying to say is, there is value here. Also, when Safari fails cinematically it succeeds in comedically.

Review by damosuzuki ★★ 1

sexy young people go on a safari, disaster unfolds.

definitely feels like a wypipo genre film (sigh - it's my twitter addiction that made me know what that means). i think we're meant to cheer for them getting eaten because they're white and good looking & rich.

deserves a bit of credit for being a ff movie that tries something a bit different, but the execution...ugh, it's pretty lackluster, imo. animal attacks depicted by lots of shaking of cameras & things getting waved in from of the lens. it's pretty dull stuff.

Review by MessAnderson ★

The two shitty boyfriends were the biggest animals imo. Almost can't blame the director for the hamfisted white savior narrative, it's in Afrikaners' DNA to do shit like that. When the one guide tries impressing the tourist group by saying the hotel was made in "the gentle African style," I laughed, like even when you're pandering to the cast of Dollar Tree OC that just doesn't sound like something any human being would say. Thought it was gonna go for a delightfully wicked ending but it pusses out at the last second. Gotta admit though, pretty interesting concept for a found footage horror, wish it was more Roar meets Blair Witch instead of another cast of unforgivably stupid people wandering around a petting zoo in Hell.

Review by Catsby_Corbin ★½

A group consisting of the stupidest people to have ever lived go on Safari in Africa and end up getting killed by both the local wildlife and their own ineptitude. Bonus points for featuring the classic "doomed proposal" horror movie trope.

Also, gotta love the part where the young attractive couple tell the traumatized African girl that she's so much cuter when she smiles lol

Beautiful location though!

Review by SlashinFinalBoy 🎃👻🔪🩸 ★★

This was comedy gold. I laughed my butt off. Some of the characters were annoying, especially Nick. I also could have done without the opening and closing segments. The acting is subpar at times.

On a positive note the story is well paced and the wild animals are used effectively. The two leads are also likable and make up for the other lame characters. The setting is also unique to the found footage genre.

Now that I think about it, it's pretty much just The Blair Witch Project but taking place on a Safari in South Africa.

Oh and self-entitled Americans are why they end up in this situation.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Some peril, violence, discrimination in Kenyan adventure.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Treat animals with respect. Safely, try to protect

Safari and Kiki are nice kids who just want to see

The cast is Kenyan and stars a girl and boy. Some

Some menacing and threatening poachers are unsucce

A man repeatedly asks for a woman's phone number.

No strong language except for "cripple."

A reference to Disney's Dumbo the elephant.

Parents need to know that Safari is a Kenyan family adventure about two children who find themselves accidentally caught up in a criminal situation while they tour a wildlife preserve. Safari Nyambu is a wheelchair user who loves to draw animals but never gets to see them because his aunt keeps him locked up…

Positive Messages

Treat animals with respect. Safely, try to protect loved ones (and everyone) from criminal behavior.

Positive Role Models

Safari and Kiki are nice kids who just want to see animals in real life and get out of their local village. Kiki shows compassion and empathy, and they both show courage and teamwork. Caregiver Chege shows integrity and gratitude.

Diverse Representations

The cast is Kenyan and stars a girl and boy. Some older boys call a wheelchair user a "cripple" and laugh at him. A man and some children face discrimination for not looking like they belong at a fancy hotel.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Some menacing and threatening poachers are unsuccessful in their attempts to kidnap children after a brief chase scene. A boy with a stick hits a man in the groin multiple times. A caregiver locks a boy inside their home with a padlock. Some older boys call a wheelchair user a "cripple" and laugh at him. A father tells his daughter that her grandmother is "too sick for medicine."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

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Parents need to know.

Parents need to know that Safari is a Kenyan family adventure about two children who find themselves accidentally caught up in a criminal situation while they tour a wildlife preserve. Safari Nyambu is a wheelchair user who loves to draw animals but never gets to see them because his aunt keeps him locked up in their home. She does so, however, out of protection and fear that Safari will hurt himself. But soon, an adventurous girl named Kiki helps Safari break out and see the outside world he's been kept from. There is some peril, like when poachers want to kidnap the children or when Safari hits one of the poachers in the groin with a stick. A few scenes show the poachers menacingly threatening Safari and Kiki. Neighborhood boys call Safari a "cripple." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In SAFARI, Safari Nyambu (Victor Fadhili) is a wheelchair-using boy who loves to draw animals, but he never gets to see them in person. He'd love to see lions, buffalo, zebra, giraffes, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and most of all, elephants. But he's stuck in his home, locked in by his aunt because she thinks it's too dangerous for him to leave. But with the help of his new friends, Kiki and Chege, Safari might be able to see animals after all. Unfortunately, the group might also get more of an adventure than they bargained for.

Is It Any Good?

The two child leads are wonderfully adorable in this Kenyan family adventure, but the film lacks any kind of refinement or precision. Working with what seems to be very little, Safari manages to portray a decent story, with very amiable characters, but the lack of polish and amateurish representation firmly makes this somewhat enjoyable movie feel unfinished. For some, perhaps, the rhythm of the dialogue, editing, and shot sequences will not be bothersome, but for others, the overall lack of production quality will make the film feel too much like a very decent student-made film. The action sequences, like the chase scene, the poachers' behavior in general, and lots of the acting, leave a lot to be desired. There are illogical gaps and some hastily concluded sequences, like in the end.

But there are wonderful scenes of wildlife, wild animals in nature preserves, and Kenyan life. The film could have also done more with the commentary about certain Kenyans discriminating against the main characters because they "don't look like they have money," but understandably, as a family film, it only touches on the subject.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about violence in family adventure movies. Did any of the violence in Safari scare you? Were the poachers scary? How so or not so?

Can you name all of the animals that were shown in the movie? Which one was your favorite?

Why do you think the poachers wanted the elephant tusks?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 1, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : April 1, 2023
• Cast : Abilasha Muthoni , Victor Fadhili , Victor Nyatta , Mehul Savani
• Director : Bill Afwani
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Adventures , Wild Animals
• Run time : 82 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : April 14, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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50 Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa

Top 50 movies set in africa you have to see.

If you cant travel to Africa, Africa comes to you.  We all know movies like Last King of Scotland with Leonardo di Caprio, Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener,  Goodbye Bafana, and evergreen classics Out of Africa and Gorillas in The Mist.

But there is more! 50 Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa is list of less known films shot in Africa with great stories and insights into African continent.

Unfortunately  many  movies filmed in Africa  get overlooked due to lack  of the publicity. Below is the list of less known  50 movies set in Africa. Many movies from the list are  award winners or nominees  on international festivals like Cannes, Toronto, Tribeca, Sundance…

On top list of movies set in Africa you will find everything: from shocking and eye opening documentaries revealing problematic issues in Africa, stories inspired by real life events, to drama action and love. We have gathered and seen many from the list of 50 movies where the action happens in Africa. How many movies have you seen?

Movies set in Africa With Child Soldiers and Rebel Topic

Set in Northern Uganda, a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war, WAR/DANCE tells the story of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy, three children whose families have been torn apart, their homes destroyed, and who currently reside in a displaced persons camp in Patongo.

When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance competition, their historic journey to their nation’s capital is also an opportunity to regain a part of their childhood and to taste victory for the first time in their lives.

The Silent Army

Child soldiers in Africa are at the fore in this tale of a white restaurant owner in an African town bordering a conflict zone. When his son’s African friend Abu is abducted, he sets out to find the boy, and walks right into a training camp exploiting children like Abu.

War Witch paints a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl (wonderfully played by nonprofessional actress Rachel Mwanza) who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier.

She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind.

Movies Set in Rwanda Based on True Events from Genocide War

Sometimes in april.

If you really want to find out a bit more about the genocide in Rwanda of 1994, this is THE movie to go! It’s a wonderful, yet uncompromisingly sad and bitter movie. Whereas “Hotel Rwanda” was more like Schindlers List in Africa.

More focusing on a Hollywood-like hero & love story, “Sometimes in April” leads you right into the very depths of hell. The characters are well pointed out, the acting is always impressive and the film-making is very subtle and pleasantly calm.

Beyond the Gates  aka Shooting Dogs

Based on a true story. An exhausted Catholic priest (Hurt) and a young idealistic English teacher (Dancy) finds themselves caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. They must now choose whether to stay with the thousands of Tutsis about to be massacred or to flee for safety.

A Sunday in Kigali

In April 1994, the middle-aged Canadian journalist Bernard Valcourt is making a documentary in Kigali about AIDS. He secretly falls in love for the Tutsi waitress of his hotel Gentille, who is younger than him, in a period of violent racial conflicts.

When the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda begins, Bernard does not succeed in escaping with Gentille to Canada. When the genocide finishes in July 1994, Bernard returns to the chaotic Kigali seeking out Gentille in the middle of destruction and dead bodies.

Kinyarwanda

A young Tutsi woman and a young Hutu man fall in love amidst chaos; a soldier struggles to foster a greater good while absent from her family; and a priest grapples with his faith in the face of unspeakable horror.

A local Hutu official is persuaded to implement the government’s policy against the Tutsi: To completely wipe them out. Josette, a beautiful young Tutsi girl struggles to survive the killing by taking refuge in a church, supposedly protected by the UNO forces.

Meanwhile, Josette’s brother is hunted down and murdered and her boyfriend rescued by the rebels. But the Hutu Catholic priest betrays Josette’s family and only agrees to spare her life is to submit to the nightly violations.

By the time she is reunited with her boyfriend, neither of them can face the brutal reality of their situation: she is pregnant and bears the priest’s child, which she immediately abandons. 100 Days was shot in Kibuye, the beautiful landscape had been the back drop to some of the worst atrocities in 1994.

In Kibuye Church, the site of an actual massacre, Rwanda actors played killers and victims that were only too familiar to them.

Hotel Rwanda

The true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.

Movies Set in South Africa

In Johannesburg, a small time criminal, Tsotsi, is a teenager without feelings, hardened by his tough life. After a series of violent gang hits, Tsotsi hijacks a car. However, whilst driving, Tsotsi finds that there is a baby on the back seat. He brings the baby to his house in the slum. The next six days bring about a change in him that couldn’t be foreseen

The Bang Bang Club

A must see movie for photojournalism lovers! A drama based on the true-life experiences of four combat photographers capturing the final days of apartheid in South Africa. The “Bang-Bang Club” was a moniker given to a group of primarily four South African photographers who gained notoriety for consistently putting themselves in harm’s way to obtain photographs of the “silent war” between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha.

Inkhata raged from 1990 to 1994, leading up to the first free elections in South Africa that resulted in Nelson Mandela becoming President. The Bang Bang Club is a film version of those years, focusing on the primary members of this group, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva.

 Gangsters Paradise: Jerusalema

Inspired by a true story, GANGSTERS PARADISE: JERUSALEMA is an unflinching look into the crime, corruption and the transgressions of those looking to survive in the most crime—infested district of Johannesburg. Starting off with simple smash and grabs, and petty crime, Lucky Kunene quickly graduates to more aggressive heists such as armed robbery and carjacking.

Soon, Lucky realizes he needs a bigger score to fulfill his goals of making it big, and escaping from the slums, to a dream house by the sea. Lucky hatches an elaborate and violent plan to make his fortune hijacking building from landlords of Johannesburg tenements by winning the favor of the tenants and then holding their rent hostage from the landowners.

His high—profile real estate acquisitions attract the attention of the local police force who have no qualms about using unprovoked brutality to bring him down. His trouble with the law, coupled with an escalating war between a local drug lord, creates a tense standoff: both sides are closing in, and Lucky must stay one step ahead, or his empire, and his life, will come crashing down.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela is a South African lawyer who joins the African National Congress in the 1940s when the law under the Apartheid system’s brutal tyranny proves useless for his people.

Forced to abandon peaceful protest for armed resistance after the Sharpeville Massacre, Mandela pays the price when he and his comrades are sentenced to life imprisonment for treason while his wife, Winnie, is abused by the authorities herself.

Over the decades in chains, Mandela’s spirit is unbowed as his struggle goes on in and beyond his captivity to become an international cause. However, as Winnie’s determination hardens over the years into a violent ruthlessness, Nelson’s own stature rises until he becomes the renowned leader of his movement.

Life, Above All

In the dusty small town of Elandsdoorn, a South African township not far from Johannesburg, life is simple and serene. A prevailing sense of deep pride tightly bonds together the entire community – but beware to those who step out of line … 12-year-old Chanda is a hardworking promising young student with a bright future, but her life changes dramatically when her baby sister unexpectedly dies.

Heartbroken, Chanda’s mother, Lillian, in turn becomes severely ill. Her stepfather drowns himself in alcohol, leaving the young girl to take care of her two smaller siblings. Meanwhile, the formerly friendly neighbors become increasingly distant and gossip spreads. “Auntie” Tafa does what she can to help by getting Lillian to leave town, but not even “Auntie” is immune to the cloud of fear filtering across Elandsdoor.

7 Days in Entebbe (2018)

In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to release many terrorists held in Israeli prisons. After much debate, the Israeli government sent an elite commando unit to raid the airfield and release the hostages.

Beat the Drum

Young Musa is orphaned after a mysterious illness strikes his village in KwaZulu Natal. To help his grandmother, Musa sets out for Johannesburg with his father’s last gift, a tribal drum, in search of work and his uncle. The journey confronts him with the stark realities of urban life, but his indomitable spirit never wavers; he returns with a truth and understanding his elders have failed to grasp.

Inspired by true story. A dark skinned girl born to white South African parents attempts to explore her identity in the era of apartheid as her government, her parents, and society as a whole struggle with what it means to be a black child of Caucasian descent in a nation deeply divided by race. The year is 1955.

Sandra Laing, Sophie Okonedo, has just been born to a pair of white Afrikaner parents, her brown skin and curly hair the surprising result of genetic throwback. As the government’s rigid apartheid system struggles with whether to classify Sandra as white or black, the young girl and her parents gradually realize that the complications they face due to her appearance run deep and wide.

The Colour of Freedom aka Goodbye Bafana

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner’s name was Nelson Mandela.

Movies Set in Kenya

Paradise: love.

On the beaches of Kenya they’re known as “Sugar Mamas” — European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a fifty-year-old Austrian and mother of a daughter entering puberty, travels to this vacation paradise. She goes from one beach boy to the next, from one disappointment to the next and finally she must recognise: On the beaches of Kenya, love is a business.

The White Massai

The Swiss Carola Lehmann develops a crush on the Samburu warrior Lemalian Mamutelil during a ferry trip on the last day of her two week vacation in Kenya, although traveling with her boyfriend, Stefan. She strikes up a conversation with Lemalian and, the next morning, instead of returning to Biel (Switzerland), Carola decides to leave Stefan and seek out Lemalian.

She travels to Nairobi by bus. From there to Maralal, where she befriends Elizabeth Muzungu, a Caucasian married to a Kikuyu. She explains some important details of the Samburu culture to Carola. Wwhen Lemalian meets with her, they walk together to his isolated tribe in Barsaloi.

Carola is welcomed by his people, she sells her shop in Switzerland and marries Lemalian, having a daughter with him. She also opens up a store. However, their differences of cultures force Carola to make an ultimate decision.

Nowhere in Africa

A love story spanning two continents, “Nowhere In Africa” is the true tale of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya.A Jewish family in Germany emigrate short before the Second World War.

They move to Kenya to start running a farm, but not all members of the family come to an arrangement with their new life. Shortly after their departure, things are changing in Germany very quickly, and a turning back seems impossible. So everyone has to arrange himself with the new life in a new continent.

 Nairobi Half Life

A movie made by Kenyans for Kenyans. A young, aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming a success in the big city. In pursuit of this and to the chagrin of his brother and parents, he makes his way to Nairobi:the city of opportunity.

The First Grader

Set in a mountain village in Kenya the film tells the remarkable true and uplifting story of a proud old Mau Mau veteran who is determined to seize his last chance to learn to read and write – and so ends up joining a class alongside six year-olds. Together he and his young teacher face fierce resistance, but ultimately they win through – and also find a new way of overcoming the burdens of the colonial past.

Out of Africa

This is one of those rare movies that has something for everybody and is nearly perfect in many respects.OUT OF AFRICA is based on the memoirs of Danish writer Karen Blixen (pen name, Isak Dinesen) in a coffee plantation in present day Kenya.

It explains how this brave woman overcomes the stereotype of a dainty, colonial British lady by running the coffee farm while her husband Bror Blixen (Brandauer) led a life of hunting and infidelities.

Meryl Streep is great as Karen Blixen. She manages to maintain the realistic Danish accent through the whole film. Redford is great as Denys Finch-Hatton, the Etonian hunter who keeps companion in her loneliest and hardest. But the real attraction of the film is he outstanding photography of the African landscape.

The Constant Gardener

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa’s companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa’s widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them.

They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife’s infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents.

Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth – a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Social Documentaries Set in Africa

Darwin’s nightmare.

A documentary on the effect of fishing the Nile perch in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria. The predatory fish, which has wiped out the native species, is sold in European supermarkets, while starving Tanzanian families have to make do with the leftovers.

The larger scope of the story explores the gun trade to Africa that takes place under the covers — Russian pilots fly guns into Africa, then fly fish back out to Europe. The hazards and consequences of this trade are explored, including the pan-African violence propagated by constant flow of weapons into the continent.

If it is a “survival of the fittest” world, as Darwin concluded, then the capitalist interests that fund the gun runners are climbing the evolutionary ladder on the backs of the Africans in this stark Darwinian example.

Much like the foreseeable extinction of the Lake Victoria perch, and death of Lake Victoria itself, the Africans are in grave jeopardy, even as they survive in the only ways they know how.

God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan

In 1987, Sudan’s Muslim government pronounced death to all males in the Christian south: 27,000 boys fled to Ethiopia on foot. In 1991, they were forced to flee to Kenya; 12,000 survived to live in a U.N. camp in Kakuma. Archival footage documents the 1,000 mile flight; we see life in the camp.

We follow three young men who repatriate to the U.S. John Bul Dau goes to Syracuse, and by the film’s end, becomes a spokesperson for the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan; Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Bior go to Pittsburgh. All work several jobs, send money back to the camp, search for relatives lost in the civil war, acclimatize to the U.S., seek an education, and miss their homeland

The New Sudan

After 20 years of terror-filled nights, there is dawn in Southern Sudan. The people of the land peek out from the doorways of their huts. They ask each other, “Will the sun stay? Will there be morning tomorrow and the next day?” The long war is over. Southern Sudan becomes New Sudan.

Peace treaties are inked and enemies shake hands. But other wars still rage. The war of awakening hope against the habit of despair. The war of new alliances against decades of mistrust. The war of joyful homecoming against the lack of homes remaining. Above all, it is a war for the human heart against the heart of darkness.

We Come as Friends

WE COME AS FRIENDS is a modern odyssey, a dizzying, science fiction-like journey into the heart of Africa. At the moment when the Sudan, the continent’s biggest country, is being divided into two nations, an old “civilizing” pathology re-emerges – that of colonialism, the clash of empires, and new episodes of bloody (and holy) wars over land and resources.

The director of DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE takes us on this voyage in his tiny, self-made, tin and canvas flying machine. He leads us into most improbable locations and into people’s thoughts and dreams, in both stunning and heartbreaking ways.

Chinese oil workers, UN peacekeepers, Sudanese warlords, and American evangelists ironically weave common ground in this documentary, a complex, profound and humorous cinematic endeavor – a tale of very old and rather sinister verses.

In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places in the world and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers – including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a carer of orphan gorillas and a Belgian conservationist – protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers and the dark forces struggling to control Congo’s rich natural resources.

When the newly formed M23 rebel group declares war in May 2012, a new conflict threatens the lives and stability of everyone and everything they’ve worked so hard to protect.

‘The Square’ is an intimate observational documentary that tells the real story of the ongoing struggle of the Egyptian Revolution through the eyes of six very different protesters.

Starting in the tents of Tahrir in the days leading up to the fall of Mubarak, we follow our characters on a life-changing journey through the euphoria of victory into the uncertainties and dangers of the current ‘transitional period’ under military rule, where everything they fought for is now under threat or in balance

Half The Sky

Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, two sequences are shot in Africa, one in Kibera and the other in Somalia. 

In August 2009, Shining Hope for Communities founded The Kibera School for Girls, the first tuition-free school for girls in Kibera. By providing a superior education, daily nourishment, uniforms, and schools supplies all free of charge, they were able to give the brightest and most at-risk girls the power of hope and education.

Ross Kemp Extreme World and Piracy Series

Lagos, Nigeria – Ross kemp looks at the link between poverty and piracy in Lagos’s biggest slum Ajegunle:

Ross Kemp Extreme World: DR Congo

Ross Kemp flies to RWANDA to find out more about The Congo war, which has been fought for over a decade, and is the bloodiest conflict that has been fought since the 2nd world war.

Ross Kemp on Gangs: Kenya Special

In this 90-minute special, Ross Kemp travels to Kenya to investigate the Mungiki, an outfit labelled as the most dangerous “gang” in Africa.

Movies Set in West Africa

Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd.

In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity.

Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly

Caught in the middle of a brutal civil war, six Liberian missionaries in Monrovia flee the widespread violence of their native country. Their destination: Freetown, Sierra Leone. With the help of local church leader Phillip Abubakar (Henry Adofo), the missionaries make the difficult journey, only to have their troubles compounded by a rebel fighter bent on killing one of their own.

Based on true events, FREETOWN is a thrilling and inspiring story of hope and survival.

Tall as Baobab Tree

Coumba and her little sister Debo are the first to leave their family’s remote African village, where meals are prepared over open fires and water is drawn from wells, to attend school in the bustling city. But when an accident suddenly threatens their family’s survival, their father decides to sell 11-year-old Debo into an arranged marriage.

Torn between loyalty to her elders and her dreams for the future, Coumba hatches a secret plan to rescue her young sister from a fate she did not choose. A powerful voice from Africa’s young generation, Grand comme le Baobab (Tall as the Baobab Tree) poignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing at the outer edge of the modern world… where questions of right and wrong are not always black and white.

Blood Diamond

The film opens in Sierra Leone, 1999 when Civil war rages for control of the diamond fields…According to devastating reports, these stones are being used with both rebels and government forces to purchase more weapons and finance civil war…A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots.

With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer’s life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him.

Dreams of Dust

A Nigerian peasant comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in Northeast Burkina Faso, where he hopes to forget the past that haunts him.

Other Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa

Where are you taking me.

Employing an observational style, this contemplative documentary reveals multifaceted portraits of Ugandans in both public and private spaces. The film travels through Uganda, roaming the vibrant streets of Kampala and the rural quiet of the North, to reveal a diverse society where global popular culture finds expression alongside enduring Ugandan traditions.

White Material

Denis revisits Africa, this time exploring a place rife with civil and racial conflict. A white French family outlawed in its home and attempting to save its coffee plantation connects with a black hero also embroiled in the tumult. All try to survive as their world rapidly crumbles around them

Desert Flower

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad circumcised at 3, sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

African Proverbs Wildebeest Migration in Tazania  

The Good Lie

Four Sudanese children are orphaned after their village is massacred in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Consequently, they make an arduous and dangerous trek through the plains, enduring hardship, death and sacrifice all the way until they reach safety in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

Years later, these youths are among 3600 selected for resettlement in America, only to have the one girl among them sent to Boston, while the three boys must to make a new life in Kansas City.

Together, these young men must adjust to an alien culture even as the emotional baggage of their past haunts them. However, these newcomers, and their new friends like employment counselor Carrie Davis, strive to understand each other in this new home, as they make peace with their histories in a challenge that will change all their lives.

Unfolds the poignant story of three women and their search for justice from the daily plight of sexual harassment in Egypt.

The Lost Number

An international action drama, The lost Number is the story of a redemption-seeking English woman going against all odds to save a remote slum in Africa.After going renegade on a Foray, Kathleen an English woman goes down south to Ngara Town.

Seeking redemption, Kathleen saves Ngara Town and becomes her new hero. But when Diwani (point man of the Foray) comes to Ngara to retrieve from Kathleen what belongs to the Foray, Kathleen must go against the odds to save Ngara from Diwani and a Foray striking for the very soul of Ngara Town.

Long Way Down

Actors and best friends Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman travel from John O’Groats, Scotland down to Cape Town, South Africa on motorcycles. They travel down through Europe and Africa, getting an up-close view of the local cultures. They also stop at various UNICEF projects to offer support and assistance to the children there.

Long Way Down is the feature cut of the second season of the road trip documentary featuring Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charlie Boorman on their motorcycle adventure from the Northern tip of Scotland, to the southern tip of Africa. Brushing up on the past adventure is not a requirement for getting your visa for this trip.

The film suffers mildly from the lack of build-up and planning for the trip, which would have added more of an introduction to the traveling company, but the ramping right into the adventure helps the pace of the 2+hr film.

As a whole the film works as an African postcard, a buddy road trip, and the greatest advertisement for adventure tourism ever made. It is impossible to watch this film and not have an immediate desire to skip the beaches of Hawaii for the far-reaches of the African wilderness.

The Last King of Scotland

In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promises a golden age for the African nation.

Garrigan hits it off immediately with the rabid Scotland fan, who soon offers him a senior position in the national health department and becomes one of Amin’s closest advisers. However as the years pass, Garrigan cannot help but notice Amin’s increasingly erratic behaviour that grows beyond a legitimate fear of assassination into a murderous insanity that is driving Uganda into bloody ruin.

Realizing his dire situation with the lunatic leader unwilling to let him go home, Garrigan must make some crucial decisions that could mean his death if the despot finds out.

Gorillas in The Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them. Based on Dian Fossey’s own autobiography, this true life story is inspiring and has helped these amazing animals in many ways by waking us up to their plight.

Originally Dian herself was helping to make the film, until she was murdered and the production team had to go back and start it all over again several years later in 1988.

Based on the real-life experiences of Mende Nazer,the story unfolds as twelve-year-old Malia,daughter of champion wrestler Bah,is abducted from her Sudanese village in the Nubar Mountains by pro-government Arab militia and sold into slavery to a woman in Khartoum,who beats her for touching her daughter.

After six years she is sent to London, where her name is changed, but her miserable life of servitude continues.

Her passport is taken and she is told that her father will die if she goes to the authorities. Fortunately she meets a sympathetic person who seems to offer her the hope of escape and reunion with Bah,back in Sudan. For all the film’s optimism an end title states that there are around 5,000 ‘slave’ workers currently in Britain.

The Last Lions

Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords.

This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years.

Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion’s pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened “big cats,” tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make.

And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.

Movie synopsis taken from imdb.com

About the Author: Nina Zara

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Fantastic list ! Thanks for sharing..

You are welcome, will be updating this list!

Lookong for a movie about an african stock fighter looking for revenge for the death of his daughter. Great movie woth all afrocan cast. 1970s I think

Super seznam. Hvala. Dodajam pa jih še nekaj: Capitan Phillips Tears of the sun Invictus Black Hawk Down Lion des Hommes The constant gardner Lord of the war Invictus Goodbye bfana

Hvala Matjaz, za dodatke, Bafana in gardener sta na listi, ampak se hitro kaj spregleda ob tako dolgi listi:) Lp, Nina Zara

Im looking for a movie from the 60s or 70s black and white about a man looking for a stick fighter who killed his daughter to gain power. English speaking i think. Title is a single african word

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An American family on holiday in Africa becomes lost in a game reserve and stalked by lions. An American family on holiday in Africa becomes lost in a game reserve and stalked by lions. An American family on holiday in Africa becomes lost in a game reserve and stalked by lions.

• Darrell Roodt
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• Trivia This movie got its inspiration from the real stories of the man-eating lions of Tsavo.
• Connections Referenced in Beast (2022)
• Soundtracks Awaken Composed by Ron Brettel Published by Mathambo Music Administered by NORM

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• Feb 6, 2007
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• April 12, 2007 (Hong Kong)
• South Africa
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• Anant Singh Production
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