Africa is on fire! Just this year, Dark Horse announced their partnership with African publishing company, YouNeek Studios to bring their comics to the world and Disney announced that they would be working with African media company, Kugali Media on a sci-fi African series titled, “Iwájú”.
But that was only the beginning, as Disney have now recently announced they will be working with a number of African creators on another brand new, pan-African themed project.
Introducing Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is the name of the upcoming project that will see more African themed content featuring on Disney Plus.
Derived from the Swahili phrase “kizazi cha moto”, which literally translates to “fire generation” the title Kizazi Moto does well to capture the “passion, innovation and excitement” surrounding this new venture that will see African animators working together to create sci-fi, fantasy stories for a 10 part animated anthology.
Informed by the rich and diverse cultures and histories within the continent, the anthology will be filled with stories that feature advanced technology, aliens, spirits and monsters, all told from a uniquely African perspective.
Working on the project and hailing from Zimbabwe is award-winning producer, Tendayi Nyeke who will serve as the series supervising producer alongside Anthony Silverston.
A former Writer’s Guild of SA council member, Nyeke has won South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) in multiple genres and served as a film and television executive on several award-winning shows. She has also written, produced, and directed television programs across major South African broadcasters and is currently working as a development executive at Cape -Town based, Triggerfish Animation Studios,
Also joining her on the project are, 3D Animator, Founder and Technical Director of award winning studio Alula Animation, Pious Nyenyewa and film director, screenwriter and editor Tafadzwa Hove, who will direct a film that will feature in the anthology.
These talented and passionate creators will be working alongside The Oscar-winning director, Peter Ramsey (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) and award winning, Triggerfish Animation Studios which will serve as the lead studio, and help bring the 10 films for the anthology to life.
Picked from a short list of 15 films that were mentored by Peter Ramsey and creative teams from Triggerfish and Disney, the final 10 films that will appear in the anthology come from:
Ahmed Teilab (Egypt), Simangaliso “Panda” Sibaya and Malcolm Wope (South Africa), Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane (South Africa), Ng’endo Mukii (Kenya), Shofela Coker (Nigeria), Nthato Mokgata and Terence Neale (South Africa), Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove (Zimbabwe), Tshepo Moche (South Africa), Raymond Malinga (Uganda) and Lesego Vorster (South Africa).
Hope for the Future
In recent years, mainstream Western entertainment giants from Netflix and Dark Horse to Marvel and Disney have been turning their gaze towards stories birthed in the African continent. Now with this new project, it is clear that interest in African content and stories has truly been ignited and that there is, perhaps, great hope for the future of the African creative.
Let us hope that these collaborations and projects, including the upcoming Kizazi Moto are not the end but actually mark the beginning of greater opportunities for writers, artists, animators and creatives all around Africa to finally tell their stories to the world.
The Disney Plus Original, “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire,” is scheduled to premiere in 2022 on Disney Plus.