CinéMartinique Festival 2026: that's a wrap, bring on the 21st!

Last night, Saturday, October 24, the curtain fell on the 20th edition of the CinéMartinique Festival. After nine days of cinema under the banner “Lespri kô”, Tropiques Atrium closed the party the way it opened it: in style. With more than 60 films from Martinique, the Caribbean, the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia, this anniversary edition gave the whole team, led by Manuel Césaire and Steve Zébina, plenty to be proud of. Bravo!

A musical finale with Congo Boy

To close, the festival offered the preview of Congo Boy, by Rafiki Fariala: the story of Robert, 17, a Congolese refugee in Bangui who dreams of music and sees a singing contest as his only hope. A film full of energy for an evening that also crowned the winners of the short film competition, the documentary competition, the audience award and the “T’as 1 min ? Fais ton cinéma !” contest.

The official list of winners will be on the festival website: we will add their names here as soon as it is published.

Nine days of highlights

A golden opening. It all began on Friday 16 with Ben Imana, by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, winner of the Caméra d’or at Cannes 2026, presented with its producer Samantha Biffot.

Documentaries that look like us. Eight films in competition, and as many perspectives on our stories: Gwo Pwel, chagrins d’amour créoles by Laura Chatenay-Rivauday and Vianney Sotès, Shatta, une génération, deux notes by Léa Mormin-Chauvac and Malo Delarue, Mayotte Capécia, vivre et l’écrire by Fabienne Kanor and Myriam Cottias, Le talent d’Achille by Daniel Nlandu Nganga, Tras by Stève Siracuse and Lucie Margueritte, Deux rives by Thibault Verneret, 227 Lunas by Brenda Taubin and Résurgence by Feguenson Hermogène.

Sixteen short films in competition. From Martinique to Curaçao, from Jamaica to French Guiana: Frédéric Guillaume Paruta, Kristine Blonbou, Anthony Chambeau, Amingo Thora, Marvin Yamb, Gibrey Allen, Aria Sánchez and Marina Meira, Sarah Malléon, Solenne Plumelle, Loëlle Monsanto, German Gruber Jr., Juan Frank Hernandez, Miryam Charles, Léa Magnien and Quentin Chantrel, Olivier Sagne and Adriana de Faria flew the flag for the region’s young filmmaking. An incredibly rich selection.

Cannes in Fort-de-France. Marie Madeleine by Gessica Généus, Hope by Na Hong-jin, Carmen, l’oiseau rebelle by Sébastien Laudenbach, Garance by Jeanne Herry, and two Critics’ Week screenings, with films by Sarra Ryma, Aude N’Guessan Forget, Romain F. Dubois, Berthold Wahjudi, Anne-Sophie Girault, Anna-Marija Adomaitytė and Élie Grappe, Ali Cherri and Laïs Decaster. The best of the Croisette, right on our doorstep.

Evenings that made the room vibrate. Joe Michels’ Soul Session with Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS, Brazil in Motion with Maïra de Oliveira Aggio’s performance and the films of Carol Aó and Felipe Casanova, then Jamaican Vibes, with the C.R.S crew and Alison Duke’s Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story. Film, music and dance: the very spirit of “Lespri kô”.

Our memory on screen. The heritage screening reminded us where Martinican cinema comes from, with Zatrap by Elsie Haas and Pleine lune à Volga Plage by Camille Mauduech. And Véronique Kanor’s Lucie Comment ? took the audience through strikes, activism and carnival.

The next generation and the pros, the big winners

The festival also belonged to young people: the students’ films shown in “À la rencontre des talents de demain”, the filmmaking workshop for 12-14 year olds led by Nadia Charlery, Ciné Toupiti for the little ones and, on Saturday afternoon, David Jean-Bart’s pop-up choir Kolé vwa pou sinéma.

For professionals, the first Ateliers Fabrique Cinéma Amazonie-Caraïbes, run with the Institut français, supported five feature film projects: those of Nadia Charlery, Laura Chatenay-Rivauday, Nicolas Polixene, Wally Fall and Latigone N’Goma, with their producers Jeff Maggi, Baptiste Brunner, Stève Siracuse, Lucie Margueritte, Christelle Berry and Sévrine Guims. Films we can’t wait to see on the big screen, and maybe at CinéMartinique in a few years.

Bring on next year!

Thank you to the whole Tropiques Atrium team: Manuel Césaire, Steve Zébina, Vicky François-Lubin, Serge Béraud, Julie Abalain, Karelle Bonheur, Nathalie Banaré-Voyer, Corinne Badian, Hervé Médec, Frédéric Thaly, Mary-Klod Marie-Nelly, Keith Guitteaud, Dominique Douge, Laurent Laban and everyone else, in the theatre, in the booth and at the front desk. Thank you also to Madiana, the TDS, SFR Caraïbe and all the partners. And thank you to the audience, without whom none of this would exist.

Did you work on one of the festival’s films? Add it to your CFCDb profile, and tell us about your festival on Discord. See you in 2027 for the 21st edition!

Images: CinéMartinique Festival 2026 brochure, Tropiques Atrium Scène nationale.