Official Selection: ‘A Cry from the Forest’ Brings Cameroon’s Sacred Environmental Reckoning to the Alma Film Festival
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Alma Film Festival | March 17–22, 2026 | Las Terrenas & El Limón, Dominican Republic
The Alma Film Festival proudly announces A Cry from the Forest, directed by Cameroonian filmmaker Lynno Lovert, as an Official Selection of its 2026 program.
Set within an indigenous forest community confronting the consequences of unchecked exploitation, the film follows a young girl called to step into her destiny after the death of a sacred forest oracle leaves her people spiritually unprotected and physically vulnerable. As foreign explorers encroach upon ancestral land—and her own father becomes entangled in the destruction—the young protagonist must rise as the new oracle and defend what remains sacred.
Blending spiritual mythology with urgent environmental realities, A Cry from the Forest explores the fragile balance between tradition and modern extraction, asking what happens when sacred knowledge systems are silenced in the name of progress. The film positions youth not only as inheritors of crisis, but as guardians of cultural and ecological survival.
The film will screen as part of a carefully curated presentation of works from across Sub-Saharan Africa, assembled by Elvis Buminang, Karl Safindah, and the editorial team at Between Takes Magazine. This selection underscores Alma’s commitment to presenting African cinema as a vital and evolving force within the global cultural conversation.
“At Alma, we are intentional about highlighting stories that demand reflection and responsibility,” said Anthony R. Page, Founder of the Alma Film Festival. “A Cry from the Forest reminds us that land carries memory, identity, and spiritual meaning. Protecting it is not simply political—it is ancestral.”
The 2026 Alma Film Festival will take place March 17–22 in Las Terrenas and El Limón, Dominican Republic, convening filmmakers, scholars, and cultural leaders from across the Global South. Guided by its Six Pillars of Purpose—Conversation, Connection, Community, Collaboration, Cultural Diplomacy, and Collective Growth—the festival continues to position cinema as a bridge between cultures and generations.
For schedule details and festival passes, visit: www.AlmaFilmFestival.com
About the Alma Film Festival
The Alma Film Festival was created in response to structural gaps in the global film ecosystem. By design, it is a next-generation destination, experience-based film festival and cultural convening—one that functions as a cultural intelligence engine, bringing together filmmakers, scholars, technologists, artists, institutions, and audiences from across the Global South and its diasporas.
Rooted in scholarship, innovation, and deep audience engagement, Alma prioritizes fewer films with greater intentionality, creating space for meaningful dialogue, relationship-building, and long-term collaboration. With up to 80% of the program dedicated to Global South cinema, the festival showcases narrative features, documentaries, shorts, animation, experimental works, audio storytelling, and new media—centering films that engage cultural memory, social relevance, and creative innovation.
Programming is curated in partnership with global entities and agencies, reinforcing Alma’s role as a platform for shared authorship rather than extraction. Through this approach, the festival has cultivated a global community of stakeholders spanning more than 51 cities across 35 countries.
Beyond screenings, Alma integrates fellowships, symposia, performance laboratories, editorial platforms, and emerging technologies—positioning the festival not simply as an event, but as an ecosystem. Guided by the principle “The Necessity of Something New,” the Alma Film Festival advances cultural diplomacy, fosters cross-regional collaboration, and contributes to the development of sustainable creative economies worldwide.
At its core, the Alma Film Festival is a global gathering designed to nurture both ideas and people. It embraces a kaleidoscope of cultures while intentionally shifting the social dynamic from competition to connection—creating space for collaboration, understanding, and shared growth. Alma moves us from extraction to exchange, from visibility to value, and from presence to purpose.
We are doing something new.
There is a necessity for something new.
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