10 African animated short films coming to Disney+

Disney+ has announced ten original animated short films sourced from creators across the African continent will debut on the streaming service in late 2022.

The service announced the anthology, titled Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, on 17 June.

The films will tell science fiction and fantasy stories inspired by African cultures and histories.

Peter Ramsey, co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will serve as executive producer for the anthology.

“The films in the anthology kind of run the gamut when it comes to science fiction,” Ramsey said in a statement.

“There are stories that touch on other worlds, time travel, and alien beings, but all of these genre conventions are seen through an African lens that makes them totally new.”

Cape Town animation studio Triggerfish will serve as the lead studio for the anthology, working in collaboration with the individual creators.

African animated films on Disney+

The anthology’s name, Kizazi Moto, was derived from the Swahili phrase ‘kizazi cha moto’. The phrase translates as ‘fire generation’.

“‘Moto’ also means fire in several other African languages, from Rwanda’s Kinyarwanda to Shona, a Zimbabwean language, speaking to the pan-African spirit we hope this anthology embodies,” explained Triggerfish Supervising Producer, Tendayi Nyeke.

The project invited more than 70 African creators and directors to pitch ideas for films. Triggerfish curated the process with input from Ghanaian comic book blogger Kadi Tay and Congolese animation supervisor Sidney Kimbo-Kintombo.

15 projects were shortlisted and mentored by Ramsey and the Triggerfish creative team.

After that, they selected the final ten films.

The anthology will include the following short films:

• Stardust (Ahmed Teilab, Egypt)
• Mkhuzi: The Masked Racer (Simangaliso Sibaya and Malcolm Wope, South Africa)
• Hatima (Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, South Africa)
• Enkai (Ng’endo Mukii, Kenya)
• Moremi (Shofela Coker, Nigeria)
• Surf Sangoma (Nthato Mokgata and Terence Neale, South Africa)
• Mukudzei (Pious Nyenyewa, Zimbabwe)
• First Totem Problems (Tshepo Moche, South Africa)
• Herderboy (Raymond Malinga, Uganda)
• You Give Me Heart (Lesego Vorster, South Africa)

Each film will be approximately ten minutes long. Streamers will view the films together as a feature-length presentation.

The anthology will premiere exclusively on Disney+. The service is currently not available in South Africa.

Feature image: Disney

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