The Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF) has unveiled its first slate of development projects, including productions involving Trevor Noah, Rapman and Mohamed Kordofani, selected from more than 2,000 global submissions.
Launched in late 2024 by fund CEO Akunna Cook, NNAF is a $40 million commercial content fund paired with $10M from non-profit Venture Studio.
With a focus on African and Diaspora content, its key aim is to shift the global perception of the African continent by industrializing the African narrative.
The inaugural slate of nine projects announced by Cook on Thursday includes South African action picture Beyond Day Zero, produced by former The Daily Show star Trevor Noah with Sanaz Yamin and Rebekah Cheyne for Day Zero Productions, as well as Kevin Schmutzler, Toby Schmutzler, Stefan Brunner, Danielle Turkov Wilson, and Amy Shepherd. Think-Film will be the impact producer.
Award-winning South African writer Amy Jephta is writing the screenplay based on an original story by the Schmutzler brothers, whose previous credits include Kenyan 2025 Oscars submission Nawi. The official logline reads: “The wealthy daughter of a water tycoon stands together with a gangster from the townships to lead a rebellion against her father and tear down the Wall dividing their world.”
It is one of two South African projects supported by the fund alongside Amanda Lane’s action drama Skunk, starring Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King), who also takes co-writer and producer credits alongside Vee Mpakanyiswa and Megan Kruger. It revolves around two fashion models who mastermind a heist to steal government gold jewelry to buy back ancestral land.
The selected projects also include Innocent, a Lagos-set whodunnit to be directed by Arie Esiri from a screenplay he wrote with his twin brother-collaborator Chuko Esiri.
The Nigerian brothers broke out with their Berlinale-selected 2020 feature debut This is My Desire, while their upcoming film film Clarissa, starring Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo and Ayo Edebiri, was recently acquired by Neon for theatrical release in the U.S.
The NNAF has also gotten behind a untitled Sierra Leone-UK produced political thriller to which Supacell creator Andrew Onwubolu, aka Rapman, is attached to co-write and direct as well as produce with Mouktar Mohamed and Victor Mukete.
According to the NNFA logline, it revolves around a quiet 25-year-old Sierra Leonean soldier who is thrust into power after a bloodless coup, only to find that ruling a country is far more dangerous than taking it.
Further grantees include Sudanese political thriller About Love & September Laws from Goodbye Julia director Mohamed Kordofani, who has co-written the screenplay with Khaled Alwaleed. Set in 1983 Sudan, as Sharia Law takes hold, a doctor, a translator and an American reporter are entangled in love and resistance amid political upheaval.
The supported projects also include Ghanian spy thriller United States of Africa. Set in Ghana 1958, as the newly independent country becomes the site of a proxy war involving the CIA, KGB, and MI6, the film follows a former Ghanaian soldier tasked with forming the first-ever African spy agency.
Created by Carl Kwesi Earl-Ocran, it is written and executive produced by Yule Caise and Earl-Ocran. Executive producers are André Holland, Patrick Wengler (Harper Road), Ana Emdin, and Yan Fisher (New State Pictures).
The grantees also include Nigerian sci-fi romance Bako from director and writer Boma Iluma (Comfort); Ghanian comedy-horror The Return, directed and written by Zoey Martinso and produced by Kofi Owusu Afriyie at Luu Vision Media; and West African musical comedy fantasy Jollof Wars, starring Banky W, Adesua Etomi and Oluwanifewa “Nife” Agunbiade and directed by Hamid Ibrahim from a screenplay by Matthew Corry and Olufikayo “Ziki” Nelson.
“From over 2,000 submissions, these nine projects from across Africa and the diaspora rose to the top because they are commercially compelling, culturally resonant, and globally relevant,” said Cook.
“Next Narrative Africa Fund is investing in developing world class entertainment that will be produced in Africa by top talent as we build an investable asset class. These projects represent over $60 million in production in Africa. By pairing world-class storytelling with key financing and data validation, we are shaping the African narrative, positioning it for global investment, and sustaining thousands of jobs and economic development across Africa.”
The final selection was made with support from Parrots Analytics under a new partnership announced last month aimed at adding an extra layer of diligence to the decision making process.
English (US) ·