08/06/2026
To my fellow African filmmakers:
Be original. Stop borrowing the soul of South African and American films and television and pasting it onto your own stories.
Find your own soul.
The films and shows you admire did not create their characters, scenes, dialogue, and terminology by accident. Those choices grew from specific histories, cultures, conflicts, and motivations. When you copy the surface without the underlying reasons, the result often feels artificial.
African stories do not need American voices to be powerful. Our cultures, languages, contradictions, humor, fears, and ambitions already contain more than enough material for great cinema.
Don’t imitate what works elsewhere. Discover what is true here.
Cc: Leila Jewel Djansi