Through Frames in Sketch and Story

The conversation around African animation has often centered on one powerful idea.  Representation. For decades, African children grew up on a steady stream of animated content that reflected worlds far removed from their own. Castles, talking animals, suburban American families, or mystical lands rooted in Western mythologies. While entertaining, these stories rarely spoke to the rhythm of African life, from its languages, philosophies, landscapes and dreams. That is a narrative that is shifting, as African animation comes to be front seats of the animation world. Across the continent and the diaspora, African animation creators are no longer waiting to be included. They are building new worlds, rooted in the richness of African culture and informed by the complexities of African identities.  This is more than just kids seeing themselves on screen. It's about reimagining the world African kids grow up in,  and, in doing so, reshaping the animation industry at large. ...

  The African animation scene is not just growing, it’s evolving.  From pan-African collaborations to Netflix premieres and festival showcases, animation from the continent is gaining ground both locally and globally. But underneath this momentum lies a vital tension.  The rise of big studios versus the resilience of indie creators. Both camps are essential, but their dynamic will play a defining role in shaping how African animation grows. Unlike mature markets, Africa’s industry must carve its own path, while facing unique structural, economic, and cultural challenges. So how does the balance between big studios and indie creatives influence the ability of African animation to arise and thrive? Before we get into the post, below is a link to some of the shows developed by African animators, and how their studios have managed to get them out. African animated shows and their production (an article by MoMMA) The Landscape: A Tale of Two Energies At first glance, Afr...

  In recent times, there has been a shift in the way in which the fabric of society is shaped. Moving away from a lot of analogue and old era traditions and beliefs. Often referred to as stepping into the digital or "social media" age, where information is accessible and the youthful population is gaining empowerment at early ages and confronting the norms of society. So, how about turning this through a lens towards animation? Especially when we focus on Africa? Not sure, if you were keen to notice, but in almost every episode of Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire , the protagonist is young. Yup. Young.  Sometimes a rebel, sometimes a visionary, often both.  True to the shifts that are occurring in society, they live in worlds layered with technology, haunted by ancestors, and pulsing with transformation. The characters, delve into some of the aspects that are there in the future, to the question of, "how would African youth, look like, if they were fused into an uninterrupte...

The biggest dilemma of African animation creators, often stands in, whether, they should communicate about the traditional African culture, or try to find the place African culture stands in the midst of modern times of the world, where some things could be ignored or may not resonate. Afrofuturism is often described as a fusion of tradition and future tech, but Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire pushes that idea further, it doesn’t just mix the old and new, it merges the sacred and the digital , the ancestral and the algorithmic. As our stories evolve the weaving of our traditional cultures that define the fabric of our African continent with the modern advancements that influence the African continent and it's existence, become the corner stone in which African animation seeks to plant it's feet. Therefore, what happens when a sangoma (traditional Zulu healer) rides a hoverboard? Or a god’s daughter commands alien AI? Or a spiritual calling interrupts a high-stakes tech race? ...

In recent years, Afrofuturism has gained powerful visual and narrative traction, particularly in the world of animation. From the blockbuster universe of Black Panther to the culturally resonant anthology Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire , this visionary genre has moved from the margins of speculative fiction into global mainstream consciousness.  But while both properties champion African futures and celebrate Black identities, their origins, narrative control, thematic expression, and tonal executions differ in ways that reflect a deeper conversation about authorship, authenticity, and creative space. And that begs the question: What do both of these properties, reflect and capture when Africa looks to express its futures and carve a space for its stories? Narrative Ownership and Creative Control One of the most defining contrasts between Black Panther and Kizazi Moto lies in who gets to tell the story.  Black Panther , despite its rich portrayal of African culture and ...