Talking about how international Netflix is, they’ve finally released their first African original series, Queen Sono––about a spy from South Africa! The streaming platform’s six-episode thriller will feature South African Pearl Thusi as the secret agent.
South Africa’s own award-winning stand-up comedian Kagiso Lediga wrote and directed the thriller. Queen Sono was filmed in many locations around the continent. Talk about local, right?
“Controlling the narrative is really important because we’re tired of seeing, particularly, just struggle stories,” Entertainment Weekly quoted Thusi. Africa is not defined by the struggle you see. They have their own stories and Thusi encourages this storytelling as it empowers the people from her country.
The plot focuses on Queen Sono trying to reveal the truth behind the death of her mother, who was a hero of South Africa’s anti-apartheid conflict. Apart from apartheid, the plot also shows the present corruption that inhabits the country. And like any spy, Queen Sono doesn’t follow the rule book which makes the spy a total badass.
So far, reviews have been all over the place––but what we should be rejoicing about is the mere fact that there’s a story about present Africa and no foreign actor can showcase that like the local talent like Pearl Thusi.
Veteran South African actress Abigail Kubeka is praised for her performance as Queen’s grandmother for being such lighthearted on the show––giving fans something to laugh about in times of struggle.
Nollywood, as obvious as it sounds, is the most famous film production house in Nigeria––it being a multi-billion dollar industry, I think no further questions are to be asked. This is an opportunity for Netflix to offer the storytellers of Africa better quality for their dramas and productions. Like that of 2018, Netflix bagged the right of Nigeria feature film Lionheart as directed by Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaji––becoming the first Oscar submission for the best international feature film for Nigeria but was later removed in nominations as it was largely done in English.