Literature and comics[edit]
Africanfuturism literature features speculative fiction which narrates events centered on Africa from
an African point of view rather than a Western point of view. Works of Africanfuturism literature are
still wrongly categorized as Afrofuturism.[citation needed]
Works of Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor are often in the Africanfuturism genre with her
works like Who Fears Death, Lagoon, Remote Control, The Book of Phoenix and Noor. She won
a Hugo and Nebula award for her novella Binti, the first from the Binti trilogy which features a
native Himba girl from Namibia in space.[11] Tade Thompson won a Arthur C. Clarke award for his
Africanfuturist novel Rosewater about an alien dome in Nigeria[12] and Zambian writer Namwali
Serpell's The Old Drift won the same award.
In 2020, Africanfuturism: An Anthology edited by Wole Talabi was published by Brittle Paper and as
of the end of 2022 is currently still offered for free on its website in celebration of the 10th
anniversary of this publisher which has been called "the village square of African literature". [13][14] Gary
K. Wolfe reviewed this anthology in February 2021.[15] He credits Nnedi Okorafor for coining
"Africanfuturism," noting its describes "more Africa-centered SF," although saying he is not sure
whether her term "Africanjujuism," a parallel term for fantasy, will catch on. While saying that both
are useful, he says that he does not like how they have to "do with the root, not the prefix," with
"futurism" only describing a bit of science fiction and fantasy. He still calls the book a "solid
anthology," saying it challenges the idea of viewing African science fiction as monolithic. Stories in
the book include "Egoli" by T. L. Huchu, "Yat Madit" by Dilman Dila, "Behind Our Irises" by Tlotlo
Tsamaase, "Fort Kwame" by Derek Lubangakene, "Rainmaker" by Mazi Nwonwu, "Fruit of the
Calabash" by Rafeeat Aliyu, "Lekki Lekki" by Mame Bougouma Diene, and "Sunrise" by Nnedi
Okorafor.[15]
When Tor.com outlined a list of stories and books from the genre as of 2021, Tor also
highlighted Africanfuturism: An Anthology (edited by Wole Talabi) along with the individual works
of Namwali Serpell's The Old Drift, Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon, Nicky Drayden's The Prey of
Gods, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki's Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon, and Tochi
Onyebuchi's War Girls.[9]
In comics, as of the end of 2022, so far a few Africanfuturism comics exist. Comic Republic Global
Network, a Lagos-based publisher, is prominent in creating Africanfuturist superheroes
like Guardian Prime.[16][17] Laguardia, a comic book by Nnedi Okorafor, is associated with
Africanfuturism.[18]
Films and television[edit]
Africanfuturism movies are often scarce;[19] films like Black Panther have been criticized by some
viewers,[20] who say that their depiction of Africa "differs little from the colonial view". [1] In recent times,
Africanfuturist movies include Hello, Rain, Pumzi, and Ratnik. Several Africanfuturism novels have
been optioned for live adaptation, including Binti and Who Fears Death.[1][19] In 2020, Walt Disney
Studios and Pan African company Kugali announced that they would be co-producing an
africanfuturist animated science fiction series, Iwájú, inspired by the city of Lagos.[21][22]
On July 5, 2023, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, an Africanfuturist[23][24][25] animated anthology short film
series premiered on Disney+,[26] Peter Ramsey was picked as executive producer, while Tendayi
Nyeke and Anthony Silverston were supervising producers, and Triggerfish was the primary studio,
along with other animation studios in Africa.[27][28] Each of the ten films is from an African perspective,
on themes such as social media, duality, disability, self-reflection, shared humanity, and other topics,
with stories which include time travel, extraterrestrials, and alternate universes.[29][24][30]
