Watch Aton Tsiba’s enchanting peotic short film “Ntufi ya Ntaba”

ArtFilmShort Film

1 Mar

NTUFI YA NTABA a film by Aton Tsiba

Africa is having a moment, and the world is finally listening. Cinema is opening its doors to stories that breathe with African rhythm, memory, and truth. In the midst of this shift stands Aton Tsiba, a designer and filmmaker who turns his gaze toward a ritual many overlook: the intimate ceremony of the haircut.

In Tsiba’s hands, the barbershop becomes a stage. Clippers hum like ancestral drums. Hair falls like soft punctuation. A boy becomes a man, a man becomes himself again. The film lingers on the gestures—hands steadying a head, mirrors catching fragments of identity, conversations drifting like incense. It is a portrait of community, of trust, of the quiet ways African people shape themselves and each other.

Tsiba’s work expands the definition of African storytelling. It shows that culture is not only in festivals or folklore, but in the everyday rites that hold us together. His film is a reminder: even the smallest rituals carry the weight of history.

"Ntufi ya Ntaba" is a poetic short film by designer and filmmaker Aton Tsiba that explores the ritualistic intimacy of a haircut.

Drawing from his background in fashion, Tsiba treats the human form as a canvas, using intense close-ups and deliberate silence to capture the "fragile bond" between barber and subject. Shot in Dakar, the film is a meditation on identity, grooming, and the artist's connection to his Central African roots.

Read the full interview on Guzangs: Aton Tsiba: Ntufi ya Ntaba”