Ones to Watch: 8 African and Afro-Diasporan Webseries To Get Into.
Created, written, directed and edited by Amelia Umuhire, a Rwandan-European self-taught filmmaker from Berlin and self-identifying Afro-European, Polyglot is fictional webseries based in the German capital that explores the diverse stories of politics, growing pains, love and the challenges of living in a city as complex as its inhabitants. Each episode centers on individuals who, through their equally complex hyphenated identities, represent these intricacies as they navigate the multi-layered worlds and spaces of their everyday Afro-European lives.
Putting the focus on black women in Europe and their experiences navigating and interrogating concepts of beauty within spaces where blackness is less than celebrated, simply titled Pretty, this multi-episode webseries by France-based beauty and hair site Un’ruly both highlights these problematic encounters and simultaneously celebrates individual concepts of beauty through the personal accounts of black women who’ve grown up and lived in various European cities.
Cecile Emeke’s Strolling series is perhaps one of the most important string of intertwined visual narratives to come out of the diaspora. Having started in England, filming friends and acquaintances in conversation on the streets of London, the series has since been replicated to include versions filmed in France and the Netherlands, with more seasons from other locations still to come. At its very essence, as outlined in its mission statement, Strolling both captures and fulfills its objective of connecting the scattered stories of the Black and African diaspora.
In the fictional world created by writer Samantha Chioma, and directed by Ola Masha and Olan Collardy, Life Of Hers reflects the lives and friendships of four women living in London whose complexities, as young woman of the African diaspora, are all too real and relatable.
Revolving around the ever eventful lives of a diverse cast of young twentysomethings living in the hustle and bustle world of Africa’s leading economic epicenter, Ndani TV’s Gidi Up chronicles the lives of young creatives and professionals trying to make it in various cities across Nigeria. Complementing the quality production each character is thoroughly fleshed out through the well-scripted narrative in each episode. Two seasons deep since its introduction in 2013, the show has become increasingly successful, with more episodes to follow.
What filmmaker Mmabatho Mantsho has created is a collage of perspectives on sex that speak directly to the complexities of women’s sexuality not just in South Africa, but around the world too. In unmasking various critical stigma and stereotypes surrounding women’s sexuality in South Africa in particular, the series uncovers and interrogates a number of misrepresentations concerning the expectations of women and their sexuality. Through the accounts of women who represent various demographics, we see how these false moral standards dangerously impact individual lives, compressing the fluidity and colourful nature of sex and sexuality whilst maintaining precarious patriarchal prejudices. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the series is that women can, and have the right to, have access to healthy and accurate information concerning sex, and sexual pleasure too, and that it really is OK to tell the truth about sex.
Positioning itself as a documentary series that takes viewers on a “journey across the continent through the eyes of an insider”, My Africa Is is a project that sheds stereotypes and single story narratives and instead replaces them not with any particular agenda, but instead focuses on capturing the essence of each storyteller featured.
With four seasons currently under its belt, and having being filmed in two of Africa’s leading cultural epicenters – Nairobi and Lagos respectively, MTV Base Africa’s Shuga is a show with a strong informative edge. Its high drama content is aimed at educating young Africans across the continent about everything from sexual and reproductive health, to gender-based violence and stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. Though not exclusively a webseries, as its airs first on cable television, episodes are made available on line soon after their terrestrial broadcast.
