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Supa Team 4: Netflix's First African Animation in Trailblazing Debut

Supa Team 4: Netflix's First African Animation in Trailblazing Debut
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Supa Team 4: Netflix's First African Animation in Trailblazing Debut

Supa Team 4: Netflix's First African Animation in Trailblazing Debut

Netflix's first original African animated series premiered on Thursday in a debut its creator said she hoped would pave the way for more productions from the continent.

Set in a futuristic version of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, "Supa Team 4" tells the story of four teen girls who turn undercover superheroes after being recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world.

"I'm excited that the world finally gets to see the fantastic show that the incredibly talented super team, from Africa and beyond, have put together," Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema told AFP in a statement.

"We hope 'Supa Team 4'... will lead to further investment and collaboration so we can continue to grow the industry."

Mulendema created the series after pitching it at a pan-African talent search by animation studio Triggerfish, where she became one of the winners in 2015.

When the show was first announced in 2019, Mulendema said she set the story in her home country to "illustrate that anyone from anywhere can be a superhero".

"(Animation) series shaped our childhoods and to know young Zambians get to see what they've never seen on TV before is Amazing!!" Zambian singer Sampa the Great, who worked on the theme song, wrote on Instagram this month.

Netflix has bet on diversifying its production outside the United States in recent years, scoring big with series including Spanish smash "Money Heist" and South Korean dystopian drama "Squid Game".

In April, the firm said it planned to expand operations in Africa and give "more African storytellers an amplified voice on the global stage".

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Film Academy Apologizes for Not Naming ‘No Other Land’ Co-director in Response to Attack on Him

Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-winning Palestinian director of "No Other Land," is released from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba a day after being detained by the Israeli army following an attack by Jewish settlers, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP)
Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-winning Palestinian director of "No Other Land," is released from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba a day after being detained by the Israeli army following an attack by Jewish settlers, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP)
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Film Academy Apologizes for Not Naming ‘No Other Land’ Co-director in Response to Attack on Him

Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-winning Palestinian director of "No Other Land," is released from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba a day after being detained by the Israeli army following an attack by Jewish settlers, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP)
Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-winning Palestinian director of "No Other Land," is released from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba a day after being detained by the Israeli army following an attack by Jewish settlers, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP)

After mounting criticism following its initial response to the violent attack on Oscar-winning "No Other Land" co-director Hamdan Ballal, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for not acknowledging Ballal by name.

In a letter to academy members, academy CEO Bill Kramer and its president, Janet Yang, said they regretted not issuing a direct statement on Ballal. The director on Monday, witnesses said, was beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and then detained by the Israeli military.

The attack, just weeks after Ballal and his fellow directors won best documentary at the Academy Awards, was widely condemned by numerous film organizations, among others. The academy on Wednesday released a statement condemning "harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints."

Yuval Abraham, a journalist and co-director of "No Other Land," was highly critical of that response, comparing it to "silence on Hamdan's assault."

On Friday, more than 600 of the academy's 11,000 members issued an open letter saying the academy's statement "fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for." Among the signatories were Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, Emma Thompson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and "The Zone of Interest" filmmaker Jonathan Glazer.

After a meeting Friday by the academy's board of governors, Kramer and Yang responded with a new statement.

"We sincerely apologize to Mr. Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world," they wrote to members. "We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances."

After being detained for more than 20 hours, Ballal was released by Israeli soldiers. Ballal and two other Palestinians were accused of throwing stones at a settler, allegations they deny. After being released, Ballal told The Associated Press a settler kicked his head "like a football" during an attack on his village.

"I realized they were attacking me specifically," Ballal said at a West Bank hospital after his release Tuesday. "When they say ‘Oscar’, you understand. When they say your name, you understand."

"No Other Land," a joint Israeli-Palestinian production, chronicles the situation in Masafer Yatta, which the Israeli military designated as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered the expulsion of the residents, mostly Arab Bedouin. Around 1,000 residents have largely remained in place, but soldiers regularly come in to demolish homes, tents, water tanks and olive orchards.

After not finding a US distributor despite wide acclaim, "No Other Land" was self-released in theaters. It still managed to surpass $2 million in North American theaters.