'African folktales reinvented': Netflix puts six young directors from the continent forward

The poster of "African folktales reinvented". © Netflix

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On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, the Netflix platform will put online African folktales reinvented, a series of six short films directed by young directors from the continent. The project, supported by UNESCO, aims to show the richness of African cultural heritage.

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The video-on-demand platform Netflix has produced six African short films, shot by six young directors from the continent, under the title African folktales reinvented. The winners were selected from 2,000 entries in a continent-wide competition. The project, supported by UNESCO, aims to show the richness of African cultural heritage by presenting local stories treated by a new generation of filmmakers.

These six short films are striking for their work of image, music, light and this atmosphere, somewhere magical, in which the characters bathe. Stories are told by new voices from sub-Saharan Africa. All were inspired by the local culture to connect with the rest of the world.

It is by choosing the story of a Djinn named Enmity that the Mauritanian Mohamed Echkouna chose to address the other. "As you know, there is something very universal about the stories of Jinn," he told Houda Ibrahim. But they are mostly found in the Muslim world. Some stories are different depending on the culture you come from. Growing up in Mauritania, I heard many stories of Djinn from my grandmother, aunts and uncles, and people around me. So I started to imagine what the Jinn look like.

Mohamed Echkouna continues: "By thinking, I give them a human form, very graceful ... Generally, they pick up all the objects and clothes they find in the environment so that they reveal themselves to people. This is how I imagine the image of the Djinn.

Stories in local languages, including Fulani or Hausa

The other filmmakers come from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All tell real or fantastic stories that take place in a small village, in the middle of African nature or in a city. They speak in local languages, including Fulani or Hausa.

This is the case of the young Nigerian director Korede Azeez, who chose to evoke a story specific to women, in Hausa. In her short film, Halima's Choice, she touches on the fantastic by filming a young girl from an isolated Fulani village who runs away to escape an arranged marriage. South African director Jenna Bass helped frame Korede Azeez's work.

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The original story on which the film is based is that of a Nigerian Fulani worker, she explains to RFI. There is also a young woman and it is obviously a story from another era. Her message really revolves around how women are forced to respect elders rather than do what they want. »

She elaborates: "But Korede wanted to tell the story in his own way. In the film, the woman follows her heart at the end. For her, it was the best way to go. This film wouldn't be made this way if it wasn't made by a woman. It's really special and it could only have come from her.

The official premiere of these six short films will take place on March 29 in Nairobi in the presence of the six winners and their mentors. The movies will be available on the Netflix platform on the day.

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• Cinema
• Culture Africa