10 Best Movies from Niger to Watch First

10 Essential Films from Niger

Ranked native cinema in Niger’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. The Wedding Ring

   Zin'naariyâ! · 2016

   Newly returned to her family in the ancient Sultanate of Zinder after studying abroad, a young woman aches over a lost love and awaits, by the light of a promised new moon, the mystical sign that might bring him back. A visually sumptuous Nigerien drama.

2. 

   2. Toula, or the Genie of the Water

   Toula ou Le génie des eaux · 1973

   When drought grips the land and a holy man demands the sacrifice of a young woman to appease the gods, a young man in love sets out on a quest to find water and save her. A Nigerien drama steeped in myth.

3. 

   3. Saïtane

   Saitane · 1973

   A cunning sorcerer secretly pulls the strings of village life, promising love, health, and riches in exchange for ever more extravagant payments — until his manipulations catch up with him. A sharp Nigerien satire of superstition and greed.

4. 

   4. The Fruitless Tree

   L'arbre sans fruit · 2017

   Married but childless in a society where that is deemed unacceptable, Nigerien filmmaker Aïcha Macky turns the camera on her own life and on other women facing the crushing pressure to bear children. A brave, intimate documentary.

5. 

   5. Mamy Wata

   1989

   In 1968, a scheming government minister conspires with a corrupt businessman to destroy his political rival and the man's entire clan by any means. A Nigerien political drama.

6. 

   6. Zinder

   2021

   In the Nigerien city of Zinder, jobless young men — many longing to leave the country — swell the ranks of violent gangs, and filmmaker Aïcha Macky explores the poverty and despair driving their radicalization. A searching documentary.

7. C

   7. Cabascabo

   1968

   A young Nigerien man returns home after fighting for France in the Indochina war, squanders his soldier's pay, and finds himself adrift between the world he left and the one he came back to. Oumarou Ganda's autobiographical drama.

8. 

   8. For the Best and for the Onion!

   Pour le meilleur et pour l’oignon! · 2009

   This documentary follows the onion farmers of Galmi in Niger, whose prized crop shapes their fortunes and futures, as one young man's marriage hangs on the coming harvest. A warm, observational portrait.

9. 

   9. Women Cars Villas Money

   FVVA: Femme, villa, voiture, argent · 1972

   A pointed satire of greed and corruption in postcolonial Africa, following a man's pursuit of the wealth and status the title promises. An early Nigerien drama from a pioneer of African cinema.

10. 

    10. Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai

    2015

    A colorful homage to Purple Rain set among the Tuareg of the Sahara, following a struggling guitarist chasing musical glory and love against family and rivals. Reputedly the first feature film in the Tamashek language.