A sci-fi anthology of 10 short animated films, the project offers a futuristic view of Africa, inspired by the continent’s diverse histories and cultures.
Ahead of the release, over 70 leading directors and creators were invited to pitch their ideas. Thirty were shortlisted, and eventually, 10 short stories by 14 creators from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were chosen for production in June 2021.
Pulse got to speak with three South African creators and directors; Isaac Mogajane (Hatima), Catherine Green (Surf Sangoma), and Lesego Vorster (You Give Me Heart).
Created by Terence Maluleke and Mogajane, Hatima takes you into a futuristic Africa, where tribes living on land and beneath the sea fight a constant war for a powerful natural resource that causes cellular regeneration and also allows humans to survive beneath the waves.
Directed by Nthato Mokgata and Green, Surf Sangoma shows a future Durban surrounded by a monumental wall to protect the city from colossal waves too deadly to surf, but best friends Njabulo and Mqobi dream of returning to the ocean.
Created and directed by Vorster, You Give Me Heart previews the next millennium when the gods are only as powerful as their social media following.
In this interview, they take us through their creative process, choosing their titles and the importance of telling their stories:
Landing the titles
Lesego Vorster (LV): You Give Me Heart is a play on social media. When you like something, you give it a heart and it came about one day I was like I give you heart when I like something and I was like ‘Wait that could be something.’ I wrote the title before the story, I wrote the story after getting the title. I think even the Disney team fell in love with the title.
Catherine Green (CG): Surf Sangoma was not our original title, but in a way, I think it kind of encapsulates the kind of key themes of our short. Initially, we were leaning into the horror element of the film and it was initially titled ‘Don’t go to the Water’ and then we shifted it to a more palatable title. I think it works really well.
Issac Mogajane (IM): Hatima was the name of the natural resource that they are fighting over in the film and it means light in Tonga which is my co-directors language and tribe. So, I think it felt specific, it felt like what the film is about but not about because the conflict is not really about that stuff, but it is a central thing in the movie. It was an easy one to title which is not always the case.
What to expect from their stories
LV: Well, it’s because I was going through that myself with social media. I had a weird relationship with it, and still do but the film served as my therapist. We are on better terms now. If I was going through it, a lot of other people are going through it. As you said, animated projects are not just for kids. Kids are now on social media so they can relate to this, the parents of kids can also relate to this.
There is a heavy toll that social media has as we all know there is depression and all that other stuff that comes attached to it. I chose to elevate it to a point where that’s how you become a god if you are the most followed person on social media. I don’t have the answers. It’s still a question maybe I’ll have the answers with the next film. I was just asking a question, what are we doing here?’
CG: Climate change was a theme that we wanted to address. Durban in particular now is experiencing it in quite an extreme way, so we did feel it was an important thing to talk about.
IM: I was crying in the cinema when I saw Black Panther and the new Avatar Way of the Water as well. At the time that we started production, they’d never seen anything like it. It was unique but these things take a long time to make from the time that we pitched it It’s almost three years of working on this. It’s this weird thing that happens in the world where ideas come together at the same time and they all hit the screen at the same time. So, within six months of our film, Avatar and Black Panther did something similar. It’s cool, those types of things for me are just validation of this interest in exploring things that we’ve seen our whole lives but through different lenses and not always through the same kind of American-centric or European view of these things. It’s a weird thing but it’s also exciting to see that that idea was that good.
The film overall is just about the nature of the conflict. We live in a world today where it’s not just a nation-by-nation thing, I think everybody’s kinda splitting apart. We’re all fighting over things that aren’t that big of a deal and there’s just a lot of tension in the world. Sometimes we forget to see each other as just people trying to do the best that we can you know, Ultimately, it is about recognising each other’s humanity which is the part forward for all of us and it’s kind of the stuff we wanted to touch on. I think as Africans we understand what it feels like to live in places that have conflict as a constant thing that just doesn’t go away. It’s just part of our lives and it feels like it’s gonna go on forever. There’s always hope that the cycle can be broken.
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is currently streaming across the world on Disney+.
