The 25th of May is tagged Africa Day and it is a day set aside annually to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity which was created on the day in 1963.
African Streaming platform Showmax is commemorating the day by spotlighting content from each part of the continent: West, South, North and East Africa. The 4 titles spotlighted are The Real Housewives of Lagos, This Is Not a Burial, It’s A Resurrection, Africa and I and Softie.
The Real Housewives of Lagos is the latest edition of the hit reality TV show franchise and it follows the lives of six of the most glamourous women in Africa’s largest megacity; Real Estate Entrepreneur Carolyna Hutchings, lawyer and luxury hair brand owner Chioma Ikokwu, Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo, influencer Laura Ikeji-Kanu, PR expert Mariam Timmer, and celebrity stylist Toyin Lawani-Adebayo. The Real Housewives of Lagos has set a new record for the most first-day views on Showmax in Nigeria after trending at #1 on Twitter in both Nigeria and South Africa. Other interesting West African content include; Ghana Jollof, Eno, The Rishantes, Movement Japa, My Flatmates, The Johnsons, and many more.
Produced by Urucu, This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection stars the late great Mary Twala Mhlongo (Black Is King) in her final film role as an 80-year-old widow in Lesotho who finds a new will to live and ignites a collective spirit of defiance within her community when her village is threatened with forced removals due to the construction of a reservoir. The film has won over 33 international awards, including the Visionary Filmmaking Prize at Sundance 2020. Another interesting South African content is Malawi’s 2022 Oscar entry, Fastani: A Tale of Survival.
Africa and I is a 90-minute documentary about how 20-year-old Othmane Zolati walked, hitchhiked, cycled, and skateboarded over 30,000 km across Africa, through 24 countries. The documentary won the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Pan African Film and Art Festival earlier this month. Other notable North African content include Cairo Station and Alexandria Why?
Directed by Sam Soko, Softie follows Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi as he tried his hands at politics for the first time in the 2017 elections and finds himself torn between his duty to his country and his family. Softie has won five international awards so far. Other notable East African content include Showmax Original, Crime and Justice and Njoro Wa Uba.
As an African platform, Showmax remains committed to telling African stories and promoting local talent across the continent.
