Tuesday, 19th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Film  

Netflix Ramps Up Investment In African Stories With Large Slate Of Exciting Titles

By Eniola Daniel
03 August 2022   |   4:05 pm
Netflix today presented a preview of what will be its programming for the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 19, 2021 the Netflix logo is seen on the Netflix, Inc. building on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. – Netflix on November 2, 2021 released a set of mobile games playable for free by subscribers of the global streaming service as it strives to be the go-to venue for entertainment. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

Netflix today presented a preview of what will be its programming for the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

Bringing together talent, filmmakers and press from South Africa and Nigeria, Netflix hosted See What’s Next Africa content showcase to spotlight its increased investment in Africa’s rich heritage of storytelling through exciting new projects that span a diverse range of genres and formats that will be available in 190 countries.

During the first half of 2022, Netflix in Africa released an exceptional slate of content from the sub-Saharan Africa region across multiple genres including the pan-African reality show Young, Famous & African, the South African action film Silverton Siege, the South African soapy drama series Savage Beauty, Netflix’s first Kenyan licensed branded series Country Queen, the first Netflix-owned Nigerian series Blood Sisters, a riveting south African crime documentary Senzo: Murder Of A Soccer Star and most recently, Justice Served. The response has been astounding with several of these titles landing on the Netflix weekly Global Top 10 lists which rank global and country lists for the most popular titles on our service, in addition to the Top 10 daily product rows on Netflix.

Netflix Director of Series in Africa, Dorothy Ghettuba, said: “We believe that Africa is one of the major creative centres for great storytelling that resonates around the world so it only makes sense for us to increase our investment with our slate with an even more exciting slate. We’re proud to continue creating global opportunities for the talented creatives of this great continent and sharing their authentic stories with our members in Africa and around the world.”.

As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to creating sustainable relationships with African storytellers, Netflix announced a multi-project partnership with acclaimed South African filmmaker Mandlakayise Walter Dube. Under the partnership, Mandla – who directed Netflix’s first commissioned African film Silverton Siege (and Kalushi) – will direct a variety of Netflix-owned projects which will be shared in due course. This partnership joins other multi-title agreements between the company and African creatives including Mo Abudu (and Ebonylife StudioS) and Kunle Afolayan (and KAP).

At the event, Netflix also gave a glimpse into the progress of the various projects being created by emerging filmmakers from the various initiatives the company introduced in the past year which include, the UNESCO & Netflix ‘African folktales, Reimagined’ Competition; the Netflix & NFVF Film Fund and the Realness Institute Episodic Lab. Watch the conversation video here.

On his part, Director of Local Language Films in Africa, Tendeka Matatu, said: “We are working with top talent and filmmakers as well as exciting emerging voices from the continent. We are thrilled to expand our partnerships with Africa’s talented storytellers. With an ever-growing slate of series, movies and licensed content across a rich variety of best-in-class content across genres, we want to give our members more moments to share the joy that comes from being immersed in great stories made in Africa, to be watched by the world.”

At the event, Netflix previewed a diverse range of best-in-class exciting African content through exclusive promo reels and images. These include Ludik (ZA), The Brave Ones (ZA), Kings of Queenstown (ZA),

iNumber Number. iNumber Number: Fool’s Gold (ZA), Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman (NG), Anikulapo (NG), Office Invasion (ZA, 10 August), Lockdown (NG, 5 August), The Razz Guy (NG, 12 August), Wild is The Wind (ZA, 28 October), Disconnect 2 (KE, December), and others.

In this article

0 Comments