Ugandan Filmmaker Eyes New Africa Narrative

Ugandan film producer Raymond Malinga, whose work will feature in an upcoming Disney anthology of animated films from across Africa, hopes the project will bring African animation to the world.

“Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire”, is a ten-part collection of short animations by producers from six African countries that is set to premier on the Disney Plus streaming platform later this year.

Malinga, aged 32, is one of 14 film makers from South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya who are contributing to the anthology of sci-fi and fantasy stories set in Africa’s future with Oscar-winning film director Peter Ramsey serving as executive producer on the project.

Malinga says the positives gets lost in the narrative, Malinga, and this should change and that for him the anthology is an opportunity to contribute to that conversation.

Malinga, who holds a degree in animation and visual effects from a university in Malaysia, started his company, Creatures Animation Studios, in 2015.

Their big break came in 2017 when their short animated film “A Kalabanda Ate My Homework” was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival and won six awards, including for best animation film, at the African International Film Festival in Nigeria the following year.

His team, which has grown over the last few years to 10 people, works from a small dark studio sandwiched between cubicles of other startups in a makeshift innovation village built from repurposed shipping containers. African content is gaining popularity globally thanks to growing commissions for series and short films by streaming services like Netflix and Multichoice’s Showmax