Encounters Festival to debut Amadou and Mariam, Cape Hip Hop docs

Among this year’s featured films is Amadou & Mariam – The Blind Couple From Mali, which will receive its African premiere at the festival. The documentary follows the career of Malian musical duo Amadou & Mariam and traces their rise to international recognition before the death of Amadou Bagayoko in 2025 at the age of 70.

The film includes interviews with Damon Albarn, Manu Chao and Chris Martin, who discuss their collaborations with the duo. Martin reflects on inviting the pair to perform with Coldplay, saying: “We were almost intimidated by how good they were.”

The festival will also host the world premiere of Notes from the Underground, a documentary examining the history and influence of Cape Town hip hop culture. The film features interviews with artists including Ready D and Isaac Mutant.

The documentary marks the feature debut of director Adrian van Wyk, who co-directed the project with Chris Kets. Van Wyk previously completed a master’s dissertation at Stellenbosch University focused on Cape Town hip hop culture.

Other films in this year’s programme include TUTU, winner of the 2026 Berlin Peace Film Prize, and Nuisance Bear, which received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Additional screenings include American Doctor, winner of the 2026 HotDocs Audience Prize, and Everybody to Kenmure Street, recipient of the Sundance Civil Resistance Prize. The programme also features The Eyes of Ghana, directed by two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot.

Festival screenings will take place at venues including the Labia Theatre, The Bioscope and Ster-Kinekor cinemas in Cape Town and Johannesburg.