DON’T you just hate it when you watch a TV show or film based in Africa or about an African and you think to yourself, this is nothing like the Africa I know’?
For decades, the film and television entertainment industry has been dominated by stories with a Western narrative – even as they were based on Africa and Africans. Fortunately, over the years, we have seen a transformation, slowly but surely, of more authentic African stories being told about our continent.
“At MultiChoice, we are proud of our participation in this transformation and growth since our inception in Africa over 20 years ago. One of our core objectives is to ensure that our service enhances our viewers by bringing them content that they can connect with,” Multichoice Namibia general manager Roger Gertze says. This objective has informed the company’s continuous commitment to support and invest in the growth of Africa’s entertainment industries and showcasing African talent through M-Net’s channels. From Nollywood to Riverwood, MultiChoice believes in telling the African story that African viewers can relate to. With Africa Day
celebrated across the continent yesterday, MultiChoice is celebrating Africa’s storytellers who contribute to the growth of Africa’s film and television industry.
“Our viewers have entrusted us to be the curators and custodians of the African story and to ensure a balanced narrative about Africa. There’s simply not a single story that defines our continent and it is with that in mind that Africa Magic, Jango Magic and Maisha Magic Bongo and Maisha Magic East (E36) and Zambezi Magic, Mzansi Magic, Mzansi Music and Mzansi Bioskop have committed themselves to telling the story of Africa as it really is,” said Gertze.
As the late Ghanaian journalist and presenter of BBC’s Focus on Africa Komla Dumor once said in his interview: “African audiences are changing. Viewers are more sophisticated. The old ways of telling a story can no longer be sustained. I am proud that we are able to tell more than one narrative about the continent. What we’ve done successfully is changed the narrative. But there is always opportunity to tell more stories.
” – Multichoice Namibia
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