It has been a year filled with milestones for global streaming service Netflix in the Sub Saharan Africa region, with the launch of no less than four South African Netflix Originals on the service February.
Since the debuts of Netflix’s script-to-screen Originals earlier this year, Queen Sono and Blood & Water, the global streaming service kept the good news coming with further announcements of more Made in South Africa titles. Three of these titles – Riding with Sugar, Kings of Joburg and How to Ruin Christmas, – will be launching on the service before the end of the year.
Netflix has presented a preview of its local and international programming that will delight Mzansi viewers at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Netflix also previewed some original local projects that are currently in production, with sneak peeks into new material from some of its upcoming releases.
Dorothy Ghettuba, manager for Netflix African Originals, says: “The journey of 1000 miles begins with a one step, and 2020, our year of Africa, was that first step with much more to come in 2021. Our goal has been, and continues to be, to partner with local creative talent, on and off screen, to tell more compelling stories that will resonate with local audiences and showcase African stories to the world.”
See the list of content South African Netflix subscribers can expect from the holiday season.
Here are what Netflix subscribers in South Africa can expect in December 2020:
- Riding with Sugar – 27 November: Riding with Sugar is a coming-of-age, feel-good story about a young refugee’s quest for BMX glory and the pursuit of identity, safety, happiness and love. The film tells the story of a young refugee, Joshua (Charles Mnene), who has dreams of winning a BMX cycling championship as a means to finding a better life. A pivotal event redirects his fate. He meets Mambo (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), an enigmatic educator and foreigner himself who offers shelter to young refugees from all over the African continent. When Joshua meets Olivia (Simona Brown), a talented young dancer from a well-to-do family, it brings him into a world he has never known before, but their burgeoning love casts a shadow over Mambo’s agenda.
- Kings of Joburg – 4 December: Shona Ferguson stars as Simon “Vader” Masire, a member of the KOJ brotherhood and the eldest of the Masire siblings. As the smoother and charming brother, prolific businessman – Simon, leads the family business. However, under the lavish suites and ties is a man hiding a deep dark secret. Zolisa Xaluva portrays the role of Mogomotsi “Mo” Masire, Simon’s young brother and an ex-convict who finds himself having to choose between the life that got him in jail and honouring his responsibilities to the legacy of a crime family and older brother he loves.
- How to Ruin Christmas – 16 December: When family rebel and disappointment, Tumi Sello, begrudgingly joins her dysfunctional family for the first Christmas holidays in years, it’s not the merry return of the prodigal daughter everyone was hoping for. She manages to ruin her younger sister’s Christmas wedding before it even takes place, and spends her next 6 days frantically trying to get things back on track
Ben Amadasun, director of licensing and co-productions for Netflix in Africa, says: “The number of titles grew so significantly since the start of 2020, that we created our Made In Africa and Naija to the World collections to help our members easily find their next great African film and series to watch. Going into 2021 we’ll continue to scour the continent for the best-in-class African stories to enjoy.”
Netflix also recently formed a partnership with Realness Institute to create an Episodic Content Development Lab for writers in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. Read more about how African creators can get their stories on Netflix.