If Africa was a character, this new Netflix show focuses on her in a whole new light.
Photo: Chris Duys/Netflix
In early 2020 Netflix launched a show that, I believe, is helping to evolve the traditional African narrative – a narrative of a continent beset by poverty, genocide, and general tragedy.
Queen Sono is Netflix’s first original series from Africa. Set in South Africa, the storyline revolves around a secret clandestine agent who tackles criminal operations with a small group of undercover agents. At the same time she’s also focused on finding out the truth about her activist mother’s assassination, that took place when Queen was a young child.
While Director Kagiso Lediga’s goal was to create compelling entertainment, he also wanted to tell an African story. In an interview with TIME he explains that his intent is to counter the way Africa is perceived.
“It’s not just about flies on babies suffering from malnutrition,” he says. “There’s a vastness of cultures. It’s the second biggest continent, with some 1.3 billion people, and I’m hoping people will get to appreciate that.”
In my opinion Lediga has been able to offer this alternative perception in a number of ways:
The show counters the notion that Africa is a country. The story is set across Africa. Whether it’s a street market in Zanzibar, a bar in Harare, a mine in the Congo or the detective agency home base in Johannesburg, diverse locations add depth and context to the story. Lediga uses the same approach when it comes to including multiple African languages in the script and featuring artists from all across the continent in the music score.
The strongest characters are women, both young and old. In fact, one of the standout roles is that of Mazet, Queen’s grandmother. While this mirrors real life on the continent, with women taking on lead roles in the home, as entrepreneurs, and even at the highest levels of governments, it’s not always a story that’s commonly told.
Queen Sono is a story told by Africans. With an African crew and mostly African cast people of the continent get to tell their own story and control and change the narrative.
Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, a pan-African collaborative that amplifies African voices, agrees that pop culture can be used as a tool for narrative change. In a recent article for African Philanthropy Forum on the topic of the movie Black Panther she says:
“There is evidence to show how quickly pop culture can move an issue from the margins of public consciousness to its center.”
If Black Panther can move public consciousness for a fictional place then surely Queen Sono has a chance to create awareness of places and people that exist beyond fiction.
Queen Sono will continue to use its pop culture power for good. The cast and crew will begin filming Season 2 later this year.
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