Super Sema: Africa’s First kid superhero animated series
Award-winning Kenyan Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o.
What you need to know:
- Sema, is a 10-year-old African girl with an extraordinary ability to change the world!
- She uses her imagination, technology and a heavy dose of determination to save the day and protect the "neo-Africa-futuristic community of Dunia”, from the evil villain, Tobor.
- She merits prestige in our African culture through this role.
A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. Sema, is a 10-year-old African girl with an extraordinary ability to change the world! She uses her imagination, technology and a heavy dose of determination to save the day and protect the "neo-Africa-futuristic community of Dunia”, from the evil villain, Tobor. She merits prestige in our African culture through this role.
Neo-Africa-futuristic community of Dunia
Sema knows that with determination, creativity, and a helping hand from the amazing world of science and technology, anything is possible! And that is how this year, during the International Women’s Day, the girl child, chooses to challenge!
Entertainment that reflects culture
Premiering on YouTube, an originals kids and family program, is the first ever kids super hero show. Its first eight episodes will be released on the D-day of IWD, 8th March 2021, while the remaining 12 episodes will be released over the weeks from March to April. What makes it more fun is the wits behind this project.
Our very own, pride of Africa, Oscar award winner, Lupita Nyongó has done it again, but this time bigger and better. She is the producer of the new film and the voice behind a character in the series as well.
Partnering with Lupita, in support of their franchise Super Sema, is Nairobi-based media and tech startup Kukua. Kukua, the startup founded in 2015 by Lucrezia Bisignani, provides for our local creative community to produce entertainment that reflects our culture. “I am very glad to be part and parcel of this female-led team of single-minded creators.” Says Lupita.
“As a Black girl growing up in North America who majored in science, I didn’t see anyone that looked like me when I watched cartoons or walked into a chemistry class.” Says Lupita.
The motive behind this investiture is to empower children through inspiring stories that feature characters in which the children see themselves reflected. The good thing about the film, is that even we adults can greatly indulge and get lost into this thrilling set of endeavours.
Black Protagonists
Super Sema was written by BAFTA winner Claudia Lloyd (Charlie & Lola) and directed by Lynne Southerland (Mulan II), herself a trailblaser, as the first female African-American director for Disney. “It’s unfortunate how there is scarcity of Black female protagonists in television, noting 74% of characters on TV remain white. and only a few portray Black female leads in [STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)]” says Kukua’s Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Ford.
Back in the days, I often found myself turning to literature to find my black protagonists, characters who came to life, characters who were worldly, dynamic, thoughtful and not just on the periphery, but central to the narrative.
The most depressing fact, is my child self not having an adequate, three-dimensional black female role model in film. However, the cinematic landscape is taking a great turn and our next generation will be here to see it.
Sema being the role model for today’s generation of children, we want to know that they can not only see themselves positively reflected on screen but that they are emboldened to believe they too can be scientists, inventors and change-makers. Watch out for the trailer as of this Friday.
