In partnership with Canal+’s MultiChoice, the Joburg Film Festival (JFF) has unveiled its theme as “Visual Horizons: What The World Sees”. For 2027, this theme is designed to direct attention outward—toward diverse lives, cultures, experiences, and alternative perspectives.
Building upon the 2026 Joburg Film Festival theme “Feel the Frame”, which examined the sensory, textured, and collective dimensions of cinema, the forthcoming year’s theme, “Visual Horizons: What The World Sees”, represents an evolution. In 2027, the emphasise shifts to the connections cinema facilitates, the enquiries it provokes, and the emergence of fresh viewpoints.
Taryn Joffe, Festival Manager of the JFF, said the foundation is always the film itself and the distinctive universe a filmmaker presents to viewers. Joffe elaborated that Visual Horizons centres on engaging with that universe with openness and receptiveness to the transformations it may inspire within us.
“It also invites us to consider cinema’s wider cultural influences and the diverse visual languages that inform it. This spirit of discovery and openness to new perspectives will guide the 2027 programme and the conversations around it,” Joffe said.
Establishing the aesthetic direction for the evening iteration of the JFF, the visual identity has been developed to articulate and emphasise the concept through the artistic contributions of Johannesburg-based visual artist and muralist Blessing Ntsikelelo Blaai, whose work titled Décor: Homeless (2026) has been designated as the festival’s principal artwork.
Drawn from Blaai’s contemporary solo presentation Surrogate Emotions, Décor: Homeless investigates dynamic chromatic compositions and stratified compositional elements, wherein each segment presents an alternative perspective. The dynamic viewpoints, material qualities, and striking chromatic application establish the foundation for JFF’s visual identity in 2027.
Relieve the 2026 Joburg Film Festival.
Blaai’s artistic methodology integrates geometric abstraction and depersonalised human forms to examine metropolitan environments, interpersonal relationships, collective memory, and psychological distress. His artistic output has been exhibited at EXPO Chicago, FNB Art Joburg, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, and RMB Latitudes Art Fair. His inaugural solo presentation succeeded a creative residency facilitated by Gallery MOMO.
“JFF has grown through the connections it creates between filmmakers, audiences and the city of Johannesburg, and we are very excited about the upcoming ninth edition,” Tim Mangwedi, JFF Founder and Executive Director, told the JFF media team.
“With each edition, we want to create more opportunities for African stories to take centre stage at the Festival and reach audiences beyond it. The city gives that exchange a home, bringing African cinema into conversation with films from around the world,” he concluded.
