With animation anthologies proving popular for Netflix (Love, Death & Robots) and Disney+ (Star Wars: Visions), the latter looks to build on the global feel of their latest season of Star Wars shorts with a collection of animated films from Africa. Executive produced by Oscar-winning director Peter Ramsey, the 10 episodes of Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire blend futuristics visions with the continent’s diverse traditions and cultures, while also introducing its audience to exciting new talent from the region.

Released today (Wednesday 5th July), the anthology takes its audience on an action-packed tour of a future Africa, brimming with aliens, spirits and monsters. While visually the shorts can feel a little repetitive at times, it’s the world-building and storytelling that truly impresses here, as the visions brought to screen are both distinct and original. Having immediately binged all 10-episodes, here’s our initial reactions to all the entries in this exciting new anthology, based on our trademark Head, Heart & Hand system.

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Episode Guide & Ratings

Herderboy | Dir: Raymond Malinga (Uganda)

Synopsis: On the wild frontier of the Chewzi Kingdom in the highlands of future Uganda, an elite trio of herders protect precious cyborg cattle from deadly spirits. Hidden amongst the herd is teenage stowaway Ndahura, who is desperate to prove himself as a warrior and become a legend like his three heroes. When the herders are attacked, Ndahura makes a reckless choice to take on a vengeful hyena monster that he must fight alone.

Rating: 7/10

Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer | Dir: Simangaliso “Panda” Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé (South Africa)

Synopsis: Manzo is a half-human, half-alien teenager who dreams of becoming a superstar racer like his mother, the legendary masked racer Mkhuzi. Always struggling to reconcile his Zulu heritage with his alien blood, Manzo is outraged when aliens threaten to destroy his Soweto neighbourhood and his injured mother challenges her old nemesis Ogun, an alien overlord, to a re-match he knows she won’t survive. Manzo takes the mask for himself and joins the epic race with everything he loves at stake.

Rating: 9/10

Moremi | Dir: Shofela Coker (Nigeria)

Synopsis: Lonely spirit boy Luo is trapped in the realm of the gods and haunted by terrifying giants, until he is suddenly rescued by Moremi, a daring scientist from future Nigeria. With the giants in hot pursuit, they escape across the country and head for the sanctuary of Moremi’s lab. As Moremi helps Luo connect with his lost memories she reveals the truth of the terrible sacrifice that was once made to save their people.

Rating: 6/10

Surf Sangoma | Dir: Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green (South Africa)

Synopsis: In 2050, with raging sea levels, the coastal city of Durban is protected by a huge wall and all ocean activities are banned. Njabulo and Mqobi, two best friends with a passion for surfing, are desperate to get back to the real ocean, even if it means joining a notorious criminal gang who use radioactive octopi to help them survive the colossal and deadly waves. Njabulo must confront his traumatic past and the treachery of the gang to save his friend’s life and rediscover his surfing destiny.

Rating: 7.5/10

First Totem Problems | Dir: Tshepo Moche (South Africa)

Synopsis: Teenager Sheba is excited to finally receive her digital totem, a mark of adulthood that connects every citizen with their ancestors and gives full access to the privileges of society. Thanks to her bickering family, Sheba’s totem ceremony goes horribly wrong, accidentally sending her to the ancestral plane. Sheba discovers an infernal bureaucracy and a festering feud between two sides of her family which must be resolved before Sheba can find her own voice and return to the land of the living.

Rating: 6/10

Mukudzei | Dir: Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove (Zimbabwe)

Shynopsis: After defacing and destroying a sacred monument, rebellious teenage influencer Mukudzei emerges from the ruins into an alternate future where Zimbabwe was never colonized and developed into a technologically advanced utopian society. Lost and confused, Mukudzei meets a mysterious scavenger named Rumbie and begs her for help, but quickly discovers he’s being hunted by the Hungwe, a huge robotic eagle enforcing the most sophisticated justice system in the multiverse.

Rating: 7/10

Hatima | Dir: Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane (South Africa)

Synopsis: Two nations are locked in an endless war, as an underwater tribe battles a kingdom on land. Mati, a young water-tribe warrior, and Nhela, the princess of the land kingdom, are drawn into the conflict in pursuit of their deepest desires. Mati wants to join the fighting to avenge his father, while Nhela struggles to change the way her people see Hatima, the mysterious element that is the cause of all the bloodshed. Their stories collide and challenge the deepest beliefs of both their peoples.

Rating: 6.5/10

Stardust | Dir: Ahmed Teilab (Egypt)

Synopsis: Nawara, a stable girl and outcast from society, crashes an elite coming-of-age ceremony and demands her own destiny scroll from the all-knowing Oracle. Amused by her courage, the Oracle gives her a scroll, but later Nawara discovers the scroll is blank. Furious, she sets off on a perilous journey through the wilderness to confront the Oracle but discovers that she is not the only one hunting him down. Nawara must defeat sinister forces and her own dark past to find her destiny.

Rating: 5/10

You Give Me Heart | Dir: Lesego Vorster (South Africa)

Synopsis: In an opulent world where the gods get their powers from social media adoration, struggling artist Sundiata joins the talent competition “Who Wants To Be A God?” in a desperate attempt to be seen and impress the most popular deity of all: Maadi, the Goddess of Plenty. Sundiata wins by a fluke, shocking the world by becoming the new God of Creativity. Ascending to the realm of the gods, he will discover what it means to be worshipped by the masses, and who Maadi really is behind her facade.

Rating: 7.5/10

Enkai | Dir: Ng’endo Mukii (Kenya)

Synopsis: Floating through the universe in her gourd-shaped home, young Enkai just wants to spend time with her single mother, Shiro, a cosmic deity who works all the time in the stressful and demanding job of saving the Earth from man-made destruction. With Shiro’s health fading, Enkai must uncover the secrets of creation, and use her own divine powers to bring an entirely new future into being.

Rating: 8/10