Nine projects have been announced as inaugural beneficiaries of the NNAF initiative.
By Adedamola Jones Adedayo
Last week, Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF), a $50 million mission-driven seed funding ($40M for commercial equity and $10M for grants), catering to African and diasporan content, released its first shortlist of developmental projects from over 2,000 entries globally.
NNAF is on a mission to alter global perceptions about Africa through a renewed approach to the continent’s narratives. To achieve this, it provides investment funding for Africa’s growing film, TV and new media sectors. Filmmakers and content creators from the continent and in the diaspora will be supported to develop, produce and market projects that redefine old Afrocentric narratives. Over the next five years, a total of $50 million will be deployed in this direction.
Nine projects have been announced as inaugural beneficiaries of the NNAF initiative. Two projects in development have been selected from Nigeria. Arie Esiri will direct Innocent, a whodunnit set in Lagos, Nigeria, co-written with his twin brother Chuko Esiri. The brothers are famous for their award-winning debut feature, Eyimofe (2020), as well as the soon-to-be-released Clarissa, starring Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo and Ayo Edebiri, with worldwide rights recently acquired by Neon.
Similarly, Boma Iluma (Comfort (2021)) will direct Bako, a Nigerian romance sci-fi project about a futuristic society where humans and aliens coexist, while the screenplay will be co-written with Andres Fischer-Centeno.
Nigerian talents Banky W, Adesua Etomi, and Oluwanifewa “Nife” Agunbiade will star in Jollof Wars, a West African comedy/fantasy/musical film directed by Kugali Media’s Hamid Ibrahim with a screenplay credited to Matthew Corry and Olufikayo “Ziki” Nelson (Iwájú (2024)). Set in a world where chefs summon ancestral spirits to cook, the film follows a talented orphan without a spirit who must team up with a jaded heiress to reclaim the soul of West African cuisine in a magical cookery competition before generations of African recipes are erased from history.
From South Africa are two selected projects. One is Beyond Day Zero, an action film about the wealthy daughter of a water tycoon who joins forces with a gangster from the townships to revolt against her father and pull down the Wall dividing their world.
The production team brings together Emmy Award-winner and multi-Golden Globe and Grammy-nominee Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin and Rebekah Cheyne for Day Zero Productions, as well as Africa Academy Award nominated filmmakers Kevin and Toby Schmutzler (Nawi: Dear Future Me (2024)), Stefan Brunner, Danielle Turkov Wilson, and Amy Shepherd, with Think-Film as impact producer.
Meanwhile, award-winning South African writer Amy Jephta (Catch Me a Killer (2024)) is set to write the screenplay based on an original story by Toby and Kevin Schmutzler.
The second South African project, Skunk, is an action drama about two fashion models who mastermind a heist to steal government gold jewellery to buy back ancestral land. Amanda Lane (Love and Wine (2025)) will spearhead the project as writer and director in a team that includes Thuso Mbedu as co-writer and producer alongside Vee Mpakanyiswa and Megan Kruger, with Mbedu playing a lead role.
Ghana is equally represented by two projects, one of which is United States of Africa, an action/spy thriller TV series created by Carl Kwesi Earl-Ocran. Set in 1958 Ghana, a newly independent nation transformed into a proxy battlefield for the Cold War, the series follows a former Ghanaian soldier tasked with forming the first-ever African spy agency in order to protect Ghana’s newfound independence against threats from foreign superpowers. The production team also includes writers Yule Caise and Earl-Ocran, who are executive producers alongside André Holland, Patrick Wengler (for Harper Road), Ana Emdin, and Yan Fisher (for New State Pictures).
Ghanaian-American and NAACP Image Award nominee Zoey Martinson (known for the critically acclaimed comedy film The Fisherman (2024)) is set to write and direct The Return, a Ghanaian comedy/horror film that will be produced by Kofi Owusu Afriyie (The Fisherman; Water and Garri (2024)) through Luu Vision Media. The film navigates a weekend getaway in Ghana during which seven Gen Z friends, including four from the USA, accidentally disrespect an ancient deity in their beachfront Airbnb, resulting in a desperate struggle for survival in which the group confront their identity, heritage, and the supernatural.
Representing Sudan is About Love & September Laws, a drama film set in 1983 Sudan, where, as Sharia law tightens its grip, a doctor, a translator, and an American reporter become entangled in a dangerous web of love and resistance amid rising political upheaval. The film is written by Mohamed Kordofani and Khaled Alwaleed (also writers of Cannes award-winning film Goodbye Julia (2023)), while producers are Khalid Awad and Kordofani, who is also the director.
Rounding out the slate is an untitled Sierra Leone–UK co-production political thriller with Rapman, the creator behind Netflix hit Supacell (2024), attached as co-writer and director. Rapman will also serve as co-producer alongside Mouktar Mohamed and Victor Mukete. The film follows a quiet 25-year-old Sierra Leonean soldier who is unexpectedly thrust into power after a bloodless coup, only to discover that ruling a country may be far more dangerous than taking it.
Commenting on the selection, NNAF Founder and CEO Akunna Cook said: “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. 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.”
Earlier on, in February, NNAF unveiled an advisory board of industry experts and a strategic partnership with Parrot Analytics. The alliance is aimed at delivering data-driven intelligence to NNAF’s Advisory Board and fostering an atmosphere with global investment opportunities for the African screen and creative communities.
Through its current selection and support, NNAF hopes to reduce investment risks in African content, generate commercial rewards and facilitate the overall transformation of Africa’s creative industries.