Since 1972, the Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival (FESPACO) has been like African cinema: a structuring myth. In 2023, a bust of Ousmane Sembène—himself a myth: “the father of African cinema”—was installed at the entrance to the FESPACO headquarters. But is the festival still aligned with the militant objectives defined by the great filmmaker? Whether it is a group of filmmakers or films, these fundamental issues have never ceased to be called into question. The rituals remain unchanged, as does the adjective “pan-African” in the festival’s title. What kind of pan-Africanism are we talking about? This mythical notion itself evolves, like cinema, around the question of African identity. Meanwhile, the festival continues to defend its centrality because FESPACO is also a bastion. This chapter examines FESPACO through this lens to consider how necessary this appeal to the imaginary was, and remains, for the African film festival to conserve its top spot.