Disney Plus premieres 'Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire', a 10-part series animated anthology of African sci-fi films created by African creators
‘Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire’ features ten (10) futuristic and action-packed African animated sci-fi films by different creators from six (6) African countries.
Yesterday, July 5, 2023, Disney+, the streaming service owned and operated by the Disney Entertainment division of The Walt Disney Company premiered Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, a 10-part series animated anthology of African sci-fi films.
Variety first reported about the production in June 2021 when Disney greenlighted the project. They got Oscar-winning director, Peter Ramsey (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) on the production as executive producer, and Tendayi Nyeke and Anthony Silverston to serve as supervising producers.
Triggerfish, one of Africa’s leading animation studios based in Cape Town worked as the lead studio for the production. They collaborated with other animation studios and creators across the continent and globe to produce the highly anticipated African sci-fi animated anthology.
‘Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire’ features ten (10) futuristic and action-packed African animated sci-fi films by different creators from six (6) African countries. The creators drew inspiration from folklore and ancient history of their roots to imagine brave new worlds of advanced technology, aliens, spirits, and monsters. Each episode of the sci-fi animated anthology told stories in a way that has not been seen before now in the African animation genre. Variety describes it as a “dizzying blend of mythology, science fiction, and Afrofuturism, presenting 10 bold, wholly original visions of the future from a distinctly African perspective.”
The ten episodes (producer, country) released are: “Stardust” (Ahmed Teilab, Egypt), “Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer” (Simangaliso “Panda” Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé, South Africa), “Hatima” (Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, South Africa), “Enkai” (Ng’endo Mukii, Kenya), “Moremi” (Shofela Coker, Nigeria), “Surf Sangoma” (Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green, South Africa), “Mukudzei” (Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove, Zimbabwe), “First Totem Problems” (Tshepo Moche, South Africa), “Herderboy” (Raymond Malinga, Uganda) and “You Give Me Heart” (Lesego Vorster, South Africa).
The title ‘Kizazi Moto’ is from the Swahili phrase ‘Kizazi cha moto,’ which means ‘fire generation’. ‘Moto’ also means ‘fire’ in several other African languages like Kinyarwanda, spoken in Rwanda and Shona, a Zimbabwean language.
Triggerfish, the lead production studio, calls this release “a celebration of the excellence in African creativity and storytelling”.
Raymond Malinga (Uganda) in a conversation with Variety said, “this is a validation of years of grassroots work across the continent to develop the animation industry”. He insisted that ‘“sometimes it feels like we’re not given a chance, and we have to fight for that chance.”
This effort by Disney to invest in Africa, African animation, and talents is laudable even though Disney Plus (its streaming platform) is not available in most African countries. I hope that this new release will hasten up their plan to open up their platform to more African countries and also hope that they continue to invest in more projects of this nature.
Check out the series (if you have access to Disney+) and let us know what you think of it.
