2012 proved to be a good year for African cinema, despite fears of reduced funding opportunities and the usual problems with distribution.

Nollywood announced a leap in quality with the football drama Maami.

Meanwhile, more than 20 films from Africa screened in February at the Berlinale, with Michel Zongo's Espoir Voyage, Alain Gomis's Today and Akin Omotoso's Man on Ground making the largest impact.

It was a good year for Senegalese cinema, with Moussa Touré's La Pirogue smashing home the grim reality of the hazards African migrants often face to reach Europe.

Burkina Faso produced a thrilling new voice in Michel Zongo, and South Africa continued to dominate the scene with films like Accession, Zama Zama and One Last Look.

Kinshasa Kids conquered audiences at the Venice Film Festival with its tale of shégué street kids surviving – and making music – in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Documentaries were the surprise hit of the year.

Charming Sudanese flick Ayen's Cooking School for African Men, An African Election – a dissection of the 2008 presidential election in Ghana – and Reporting a Revolution, a tribute to the journalists who filmed the Egyptian revolution, grabbed audiences and awards across the globe.

The Education of Auma Obama, a film about President Barack Obama's Kenyan family by Nigerian Branwen Okpako, struck a chord with US audiences●