Ciné Neerwaya

A surviving single-screen cinema in central Ouagadougou with a capacity of about 1,200, Ciné Neerwaya is one of the largest functioning cinemas in West Africa. The exterior is a slab of late-modernist concrete in faded pink, with the name in giant letters across the facade. Inside, the auditorium has all the period charm of a 1980s palace cinema.

During FESPACO (held in late February of odd-numbered years) the Neerwaya screens many of the festival's biggest films. The rest of the year it shows a mixture of Nigerian, French and American releases. Worth a visit even if you don't go to a screening.

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A story
Ouaga was a major centre of African cinema long before it had television. The Neerwaya, built in the 1980s and named after a Mossi word meaning 'I have come back', was the city's flagship cinema and one of the principal venues of FESPACO from its earliest years. Its survival is a small miracle — most other African cinemas of the same period have been demolished or converted into churches.

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