BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Tales as old as time from across the African continent, reimagined and retold by a new generation of six storytellers come together, the African Folktales, Reimagined short films in partnership with UNESCO, launched on Netflix on 29 March 2023.
The anthology of six short films was launched as part of Netflix’s partnership with UNESCO to support the next generation of storytellers who were provided with resources including a $90 000 budget and creative guidance by established filmmakers as mentors to bring their stories to life.
The emerging filmmakers were selected in 2021 following a call for submission that resulted in over 2000 applications from 13 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region. The six emerging storytellers from Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritania, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will see their respective short films, make their debut on Netflix, globally.
South African storyteller, Gcobisa Yako’s MaMlambo is about a mystical river being, MaMlambo, who watches over the sacred waters of discarded bodies, featuring Simphiwe Dana and Zikhona Bali.
The young creative took to Instagram to share the experience and gratitude, “We haven’t had a moment to reflect on how wild this actually is. 3 months after my grandmother’s departure, ootipa are forever doing the most for a youngin. wish we could call her and try explaining what this means, not that she’d get it, but she’d be so geeked out by the story itself.
the whole concept of this competition was everything we had dreamed of as a filmmaker, but never thought possible. it felt so aligned with our deepest desires and the dreams we’ve learned to dream of quietly. the re-imagining of my/our existences as black people is something we have a very keen interest in exploring and creating,” she wrote.
“UNESCO is proud to present the tales of Africa, reimagined by its emerging, homegrown talents. At the crossroads of tradition, innovation, heritage and creativity, African expressions in the twenty-first century are as diverse and dynamic as its people. The UNESCO-Netflix partnership represents our shared commitment to the audiovisual industries of Africa, which have the potential to generate US$20 billion in revenues annually. African creativity is a force for sustainable development, and we cannot wait for the audiences around the world to feel its unstoppable energy,” says Ernesto Ottone R., the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture.
“We are excited to finally bring this anthology of short films created by the next generation of African storytellers to Netflix members around the world. This initiative is a testament to our ongoing efforts to strengthen the pipeline of African storytelling and to include voices from underrepresented communities. We’re grateful to our partners at UNESCO who walked this journey with us to provide an opportunity for the six emerging African filmmakers to create and showcase their reimagined folktales to the world, in their own languages, so that more people can see their lives reflected on screen,” adds Tendeka Matatu, Netflix’s Director of Film in Africa.
