Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novel more quoted - often misleadingly, to make a contemptuous point about Africa - than read. But here’s a film that gives the book an original, urgent and powerful update.

A crowd patiently waits in the town square for the President who has agreed to discuss complaints about post-conflict development. Finally a helicopter appears – and flies on because the President has changed his mind.

Thousands of civilians around the world are caught in the crosshairs between army and rebels, with one set of armed men raping, pillaging and burning before abandoning the territory to the next bunch of brigands.

The opening shots of I Am Samuel encapsulate the dilemma of this documentary about a gay Kenyan couple: its gentle opening moments are shattered by a shockingly violent public homophobic attack.

Journalist Maria Ressa. Is a ‘presstitute”, according to President Rodrigo Duterte of The Philippines and his activist supporters.

Local government “is the most beautiful field of work in our country.” Can you really make an interesting documentary from that idea?

Forest precedes Man, desert follows. That’s what Africa’s Great Green Wall is designed to counteract.

Twelve young teacher musicians from the dusty dirt roads of a Kampala slum take their joyous brass sound to the UK.

Hollywood bad boy Sean Penn shows how aid agencies should work in emergencies. Really?

‘Nine Lives‘ is a cry from the heart of a Zimbabwean seeking asylum.

“You are going to shoot a first feature, in Bangladesh, during monsoon, on boats? May Allah be with you! Allahu Akbar!”

200 Metres is a film about a family divided by the Israeli Wall that turns into a Palestine road movie and then into a thriller.

Many migration films focus on the generation gap between the original immigrants and their British offspring. Farewell Amor adds a variation: the gap between a long-settled arrival and the left-behind spouse.

Second generation migrants who adopt the mores – and often the music – of the country of their birth, to the disapproval and consternation of their bewildered parents, is a well-worn film theme. Mogul Mowgli has enough energy and drama to inject a fresh, urgent voice into the concept.

The trial of the Mangrove 9 is a key moment in Black British history, and of the push-back against institutional White British racism. Yet it’s largely forgotten.

Lazy and dishonest lawyers, a couldn’t-care-less Home Office, school racism, inadequate jobs – most refugees and many migrants will recognise elements of Inua Ellams’ story.

One of the hardest tasks in staging a large season such as ‘Refugees’ at the Imperial War Museum is ensuring that it is not outdated by events.

Missing out on going home or holidaying in Africa, Asia or Latin America? Try a trip to Kew Gardens instead.

Daisy Cutter, Little Boy, Fat Man, Spice: the nicknames sound friendly, affectionate. But they refer to aerial bombs and missiles.

So much of what’s happening in Africa is hidden from us, but the work of Collin Sekajugo – born in Uganda, brought up in Kenya, living in Rwanda – is hidden in plain sight.