by Thinus Ferreira
The new "visual album" film, Black Is King from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter that will release on 31 July on The Walt Disney Company's Disney+ video streaming service will also be shown on M-Net, as well as MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service across Africa, including Canal+ Afrique.
The rollout across much of Africa where Disney has not made Disney+ available, is part of a distribution deal Disney signed with MultiChoice's M-Net and Canal+ Afrique.
M-Net separately told TVwithThinus on Sunday afternoon that more information about the screening dates and times will be shared on Monday, as well as more news for DStv subscribers on packages besides DStv Premium.
The new film, based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift, reimagines the lessons from the 2019-version of The Lion King for children and will now be seen in much of the African continent, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Cameroon, Liberia, Burundi, Senegal, Togo, Somalia, Benin, Congo, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Gabon, Cape Verde and many more countries.
Black Is King was produced in a year and features an impressive list of diverse voices on its creative team, including directors Emmanuel Adjei, Blitz Bazawule, Pierre Debusschere, Jenn Nkiru, Ibra Ake, Dikayl Rimmasch, Jake Nava, and co-director and long-time collaborator of Beyoncé, Kwasi Fordjour.
Additional co-directors and second unit directors add to the crew’s global representation, including Dafe Oboro, Julian Klincewicz, Derek Milton, Meji Alabi, Joshua Kissi, Alexandre Moors and Deon Van Zyl.
Filmed in various locations, the film’s cinematography captures beautiful people and landscapes across continents, starting in New York, then Los Angeles, South Africa, West Africa, London and Belgium.
From all those places came a cast of actors and dancers that influenced the film’s choreography.
Disney released a new trailer for Black Is King on Sunday, providing a glimpse of those appearing in the film, including models Aweng Ade-Chuol and Adut Akech, supermodel Naomi Campbell, Tina Knowles-Lawson, actress Lupita Nyong’o, singer Kelly Rowland, and Pharrell Williams and JAY-Z, among others.
Black Is King includes full-length videos for the songs Already, Brown Skin Girl, Mood 4 Eva and My Power which is heard in the new trailer.
UPDATE Monday 20 July 2020 20:20 - M-Net in a statement says that Black Is King will be broadcast on M-Net on Sunday 1 August at 20:00.
MultiChoice will open the M-Net (DStv 101) channel that is reserved for DStv Premium subscribers to DStv Compact, DStv Family, and DStv Access subscribers on that date and time for 2 hours.
"Showcasing this landmark visual album and global television event to as many of our loyal viewers as possible, MultiChoice Group and M-Net yet again cement their reputation as Africa’s most-loved storyteller," says Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice Group CEO: Video Entertainment.
"We’re very excited to be part of this global event, but what makes Black Is King even more important for us, is that it shines the spotlight on the many phenomenal African creatives who were involved in the project – both on-screen and behind the scenes."
Christine Service, senior vice president of The Walt Disney Company Africa, says "Black Is King is a
powerful, relevant and timely creative and celebratory expression of identity
that we felt was important to be shared with fans across Africa as it launched
globally on Disney+".
"We’re thrilled to continue the journey that started with The Lion King."
