Regular readers of this site will be aware that there are currently several animated feature films in the works set on the African continent, such as "Bilal" (based on the true story of Bilal Ibn Rabah, a freed slave of Ethiopian descent who converted to Islam and became a trusted companion of the Prophet Muhammad after he gained his freedom, HERE), and "Adama" (set in 1916, in an unnamed colonized West African country, which tells the story of a young boy named Adama, who goes in search of his brother, a rifleman with the French army during the First World War, HERE), just to name a few.
Now add this one to your watch-list…
Another animated
film is currently in production, which tells yet another little known
story from African history.
It’s called “I
am Khama,” and will deal with King
Khama III’s 1895 campaign to protect Botswana (in what was them called Bechuanaland)
from plunder by the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, and the eventual tour of Britain
by the monarch, where he lobbied against the annexation of his country by Rhodes’ British South Africa Company.
The film, which is being directed by Mark Macauley, has a number of actors signed on to voice the major roles, including Colin
Salmon as King Khama III, and Conleth Hill as Cecil Rhodes. It is set for release
sometime in 2016.
The official synopsis reads: “It is 1895 and Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, governs
half the World. King Khama, a charismatic African ruler, is furious… The
British Government is about to give control of his country, The Bechuanaland
Protectorate, to Cecil Rhodes, the richest diamond tycoon in the World, who
will remove Khama and put his people under the shackles of colonial rule. Khama
rushes to England make a whirlwind tour of Britain trying to gather enough
support to save (his) country ‘for our children and our children’s children’… Support
floods in from all over the land. However Khama discovers that all is lost
unless he can discover Rhodes’ real plan: to use Bechuanaland as a platform,
attack Johannesburg and steal all its gold. Khama discovers the plot and
threatens exposure."
Here a first look at the upcoming film via an early teaser: