Malinga reimagines future of cattle in new Disney film

A new short film “Herderboy” by the Ugandan filmmaker Raymond Malinga is among the 10-part sci-fi and fantasy animated anthology from leading African directors titled “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” that premiered exclusively on Disney+ on July 5, 2023. 

Featuring stories from a new generation of animation creators hailing from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” takes viewers on an unforgettable ride into Africa’s future, presenting visions of the continent as never before seen. 

The action-packed anthology produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios draws on the continent’s rich and diverse histories and cultures to present 10 sci-fi and fantasy stories featuring bold and brave new worlds of advanced technology, aliens, spirits, and monsters.

“Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” is executive produced by Peter Ramsey (co-director of the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”), alongside Tendayi Nyeke and Anthony Silverston from Triggerfish, the lead studio on this anthology and leading animation studio from Africa based in South Africa. 

Kizazi Moto derives from the Swahili phrase ‘kizazi cha moto’ which literally translates as ‘fire generation.’ 

“Herderboy” is set in the wild frontier of the Chewzi Kingdom in the highlands of future Uganda, where an elite trio of herders protect precious cyborg cattle from deadly spirits. Hidden amongst the herd is teenage stowaway Ndahura, who is desperate to prove himself as a warrior and become a legend like his three heroes. When the herders are attacked, Ndahura makes a reckless choice to take on a vengeful hyena monster that he must fight alone.

“Herderboy” is about proving yourself and earning your place amongst the very best,” Malinga, said when asked what the main message behind “Herderboy” is. “The story mirrors the journey I was going through to get to this point in my career and during the production of Kizazi Moto. We look up to the very best film studios in the world and believe that we can be just as great as any of them. This film is a mirror for the journey anyone who has the audacity to dream will have.” 

When asked what motivated him in creating “Herderboy,” Malinga replied: “My motivations can be categorised into two; cultural significance and personal significance. Culturally, cattle herding is one of the continent’s oldest traditions and occupations that still has a strong presence in many cultures across Africa including Uganda. But, its depiction in fiction has been limited and underdeveloped. I wanted to challenge myself to present cattle herding an age-old tradition as the coolest job in a version of Uganda’s future. Using cattle herders as the centre of my story would maximise relatability across the continent and in major parts of the world.” 

“There are still people in Uganda today who rely on cattle for their food, clothing and wealth. “Herderboy” imagines a future where long-horned cattle are also the source of power and technology. A view of the future that I believe could only come from Africa and in the case of long-horned cattle, Uganda in particular,” he added.

According to Malinga, “Herderboy” expounds on the legend of the Bachwezi, a mystical group of people who were said to be demigods possessing miraculous powers and skills. My film reimagines the Bacwhezi as a technologically advanced multi-tribal nation that spans the entirety of Uganda and the source of power to have come from their long-horned cattle. This story focuses on Ndahura in his youth who culturally was said to be the first king of the Bachwezi who wants to earn his right as an elite cattle herder.

“Personally, this film hopefully will set a new precedent in Uganda’s film industry to aim for more fictionalised interpretations of our cultures. I think there is an obsession with trying to depict things realistically. While the rest of the world draws inspiration from their cultures to create various forms of entertainment, Uganda tends to keep limiting itself to soaps and documentaries,” Malinga said.

“Animation and visual effects are opportunities to expand on how we tell our stories and reach new audiences packaging our cultures in new and entertaining ways. I was not trying to depict who the Bachwezi were, but who they could have been had our cultures been given a chance to flourish. My interpretation is one of many and I hope this motivates other artists to do the same,” he added.

“On a cheeky note, a version of “Herderboy” also happens to be one of the first animated short films I did during my university back in 2011. I never finished that version of the film and I felt I had some unfinished business. I have finally handed in my assignment haha! The film has changed quite a bit since though. This version is way better,” Malinga further adds. 

The other films are: “Enkai” (Ng’endo Mukii, Kenya), “Stardust” (Ahmed Teilab, Egypt), “Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer” (Simangaliso ‘Panda' Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé, South Africa), “Hatima” (Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, South Africa), “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), and “You Give Me Heart” (Lesego Vorster, South Africa).

“They (the public) should expect to be entertained by exciting new worlds and endearing characters, but also amazed by the richness and diversity of talent on display. Each short has a lot packed in, and all ten films have something fresh and exciting to offer. We hope audiences will be surprised and left wanting more,” Silverston told Daily Monitor.

As to how Disney came up with the “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” project, Silverston, said: “We actually pitched the idea to them (Disney). Kevin Kriedemann who worked with us initially came up with the broad concept for an animated sci-fi anthology from Africa. We had been looking for ways to work with Disney again after our successful Story Lab in 2015 where we identified and worked with a number of great writers from across the continent. We wanted to create a similar programme, but with more opportunities for emerging directors and an anthology allows for that.”

“After the success of Black Panther, we knew the world was ready to hear more African stories, but we wanted to tell them from Africa and luckily Disney jumped at the idea as they also understood how much amazing talent exists on the continent. I think they saw both the importance, as well as the potential audience demand for something like this, and have been extremely supportive of the project from the start,” Silverston added.  

On the selection of the animators and their films, Silverston, said: “We did a lot of research, looking at writers, artists, animators, and live-action directors from across the continent who were making a name for themselves within their respective fields. We found so many artists and filmmakers who clearly had a distinct vision and something exciting to say, and we invited them to submit a pitch.” 

“It was hard to narrow it down as there were so many exciting concepts, but we brought on some respected industry experts to help review, we met with the shortlisted filmmakers, and considered the theme of the anthology as a whole, looking for ideas that would showcase the filmmaker’s unique vision and their respective culture within the framework of an optimistic future,” Silverston added. 

As to how he felt when he heard that he had been selected to participate in “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” project, Malinga, said: “Excited! But on the other hand, just like my main character Ndahura, I felt like I had something to prove and to rise to the occasion. I knew it would be challenging, and difficult, and at times I worried what people in Uganda would say about the story I had chosen to tell, but the one thing I never doubted was that I would get the job done no matter what.”

“Kizazi Moto is a milestone on a journey I am continuing. This is the first time someone in Uganda has ever done a project like this with Disney; my job was to put us on the map so that I wouldn’t be the last time,” he added.

Regarding how they went about producing these films, Silverston, said: “Triggerfish was overseeing all ten films, but we didn’t want to take on more than about 2-3 in-house at the same time, so we did a survey of other studios from across Africa to identify ones that could take on a project of this scale. In the end, we worked with great studios on the continent like Lucan and Giraffics, as well as others like Alula and Motif who took on specific parts of the production, but we also expanded to work with studios in Europe and Canada where there is more existing infrastructure, access to talent, and rebates which helped keep the project within budget.” 

“Making ten films at once over a pandemic was extremely complex, but we had a fantastic series-producing team who managed everything - from the challenges of remote voice recordings taking place all over Africa (including Uganda), to the various complications of dealing with hundreds of freelancers working in different currencies globally,” Silverston added.  

State of the animation film industry in Africa

When asked to describe the current state of the animation film industry in Africa, Silverston replied: “It’s an exciting time for African animation – there has never been so much animated content coming from Africa, yet there is still so little out there compared to the rest of the world, which means the opportunity for more stories from here is huge! With each success, we can show that the audience is there, and that the appetite is growing, plus evolving technology continues to make it more accessible as a medium, so it feels like more people can be empowered to tell their own stories, which is exciting.” 

On his part, Pious Nyenyewa, said: “The current state of animation in Africa is very hopeful. You know because technology is getting faster and cheaper, we have access to things that we probably didn’t have for a very long time, and it was an introduction of the Internet, that means there are tonnes of resources connecting people more and people can learn now. Going back to technology, if it’s available that means we can do things easier, cheaper and faster and way better - so it is quite hopeful.”

“What we need more of is institutions that teach people but once again, as I said, we have the Internet. I think we’re in a state where, like I always say with animation right now at least where I’m from, it’s less of an industry but more of a community - everybody knows everyone. I love what we were able to do with Kizazi Moto because now we are collaborating. For example, I have a studio called Alula – we’ve been doing business for 5 years which is what got us to this opportunity. So, I’m very hopeful,” Nyenyewa added.

When asked what such projects mean for the nascent animation film industry in Africa, Malinga responded: “For me, it meant exposure to what it takes to produce projects like this. I co-own a studio in Uganda with my brother Robin Malinga called Creatures Animation; our mantra is the “Audacity to dream.” Five of my teammates that have worked on “Herderboy” have been exposed to different departments of professional high-stakes production and gained experience.”

“Opportunities like Kizazi Moto help close the gap in information on how to do this kind of thing for ourselves the next time. I am industry-focused and aim to grow the local animation industry. This time I impacted five other lives but with the information I have gained - tomorrow it will be more,” Malinga added.

“Kizazi Moto has also created an environment where I now have more connections accords the globe and more importantly across Africa. The 13 other directors on Kizazi Moto have become close friends and collaboration across borders should become easier sooner than initially expected,” Malinga further added. 

As to how Africa is performing in regard to the sci-fi animation genre, Silverston, says, “Sci-fi is just one genre to explore in animation, and there is very little that already exists, so we have a lot more potential to explore. Animation is slow to produce, so there are few finished films, and generally, they target a family market that tends to focus on action and comedy, like our previous 3 features.” 

“There are a growing number of comics being produced in Africa and many of those sit in the sci-fi space, although they are mostly superhero or fantasy, and so the Kizazi Moto anthology really feels like just the tip of the iceberg for what could still come,” Silverston adds.