Netflix premieres first African movie “Queen Sono”

Giant movie streaming company, Netflix has premiered its first African original series titled “Queen Sono”. The movie; a series about a spy from South Africa was filmed in several locations across the continent, and is now available for download.

Netflix released a six episode TV thriller of Queen Sono which stars Pearl Thusi as the eponymous secret agent. 

The African movie was written and directed by an award-winning stand-up comedian in South Africa, Kagiso Lediga. 

Commenting on the series, Thusi said that it is motivating for Africans to tell their own stories.

According to Entertainment Weekly, she said that “be in control of the narrative is really important because we’re tired of seeing, particularly, just struggle stories,” 

In the movie, several African languages are also employed during the drama, which focuses on Queen Sono trying to find the truth behind the death of her mother, who was a hero of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle.

Although reviews so far have been mixed, the most important point is how refreshing it is to see a story that is set in modern-day Africa with a central character who is African.

In the act, South Africa veteran actress Abigail Kubeka has received some accolades for her humorous role as Queen’s grandmother.

Africa is known for its Nollywood film productions that come out from Nigeria – it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Experts say that what Netflix offers storytellers in Africa is an opportunity to produce better-quality movies.

In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to Nigerian feature film Lionheart, directed by Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaja.

Thereafter, it became Nigeria’s first-ever Oscar nomination for the best international feature film but was disqualified as it was largely in English.

Meanwhile, Netflix has announced that the video would only be available for download to subscribers