For the first time, Al Jazeera showcases African stories by African filmmakers

Perspectives from a diverse continent; storytelling in the hands of local talent.

Middle East’s news channel Al Jazeera has launched Africa Direct, a series of African documentaries by African filmmakers. The films present nuanced and complex perspectives of the diverse and multifaceted continent that is Africa. Each story gives voice to African storytellers, who have so often been drowned out or overwhelmed by outsider mediation. The series comprises of 30 short documentaries, curated into half hour episodes, and will air until January 2022.

One such film that has been aired is The Bookmaker, directed by Girum Berehanetsehay. The film looks at the ancient art of bookmaking in Ethiopia.  On the White Nile, by filmmaker Akuol de Mabior (South Sudan), takes viewers into the world of Rebecca Lith Chol a fishing boat captain, giving viewers a story of women empowerment in Sudan.  in The Young Cyclist by Yuhi Amuli, a young Rwandan former hawker becomes a female bicycle taxi-driver and then a competitive cyclist while in Joan Kabugu’s Throttle Queens (Kenya), you meet a women’s motorcycling club and witness how their love of riding brings them exhilaration, freedom, adventure and a sense of control over their lives.

Al Jazeera partnered with Big World Cinema for this project: it is entirely based within Africa. The team includes Executive Producer Steven Markovitz (SA), Series Producers Angele Diabang (Senegal) and Brian Tilly (SA).

Speaking about the documentaries, Ingrid Falck, head of documentaries at Al Jazeera English noted, “We’ve received overwhelmingly warm and positive responses from our global viewers to these short documentaries, which tell authentic African stories, made by great African filmmaking talent. It’s very gratifying to see feedback that appreciates these multi-dimensional insights into a range of African experiences, which go beyond the usual coverage of the continent.”

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