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The 7th edition of the Joburg Film Festival came to a close Saturday night, bringing an end to a busy week that saw the festival and its parallel industry event, Jbx, make strides in establishing themselves as what festival founder Timothy Mangwedi is determined to transform into “the number one pop-culture, must-attend event in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Across the three-day Jbx, or Joburg Xchange, representatives of the South African and global screen industries explored ways to bolster cross-border collaboration, wrestled with thorny issues involving copyright law, AI and workers’ rights, and sought to ensure that African narratives remain in the hands of African storytellers. Meanwhile, a full-day program presented in collaboration with Sisters Working in Film and Television (Swift) showcased the advances made by women in the South African screen industries while highlighting how much remains to be done on the road to gender parity.

Here are six of Variety’s...

South African filmmakers are sounding an S.O.S. over the country’s beleaguered cash rebate system, with leading industry bodies demanding answers over unpaid claims and calling for greater transparency from the officials overseeing the cashback scheme.

The country’s 25% cash rebate system has effectively been crippled by what industry representatives say are unexplained delays at the Dept. of Trade, Industry and Competition (Dtic), the government body tasked with overseeing the rebate, which owes untold millions of dollars in unpaid claims to local filmmakers.

Dozens of applications are in limbo, awaiting approval from a department that hasn’t met in more than a year, a fact that Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri, CEO of production powerhouse Known Associates Group, described as “shocking.”

“We should never have gotten here,” Phiri told Variety at the Joburg Film Festival.

On a recent morning in the South African capital of Pretoria, hundreds of members of...

‘The Traitors’ Sells To Africa For First Time

The Traitors will be uncloaking African viewers for the first time. All3Media International has struck its first deal in Africa with Primedia Studios to create a show for local audiences, coming with Mip Africa bringing the industry together in Cape Town this week. More incoming on presenter and casting. With another deal struck with Romania’s Pro TV, The Traitors is now in more than 25 territories and has had just one cancelation – in Australia. Other recent deals include for Prime Video Italy and Atresmedia TV in Spain. The show sees ‘faithfuls’ sniff out ‘traitors’ in one location via a series of games and showdowns. It originated in the Netherlands and has been hugely popular. Stephen Driscoll, EVP Emea and Co-Productions at All3Media International, said: “I am thrilled to welcome a host of brilliant new partners in The Traitors family across Emea.

Lion Forge Entertainment’s “Iyanu,” an animated series based on Roye Okupe’s Nigerian superhero graphic novel, is set to debut in 2025.

The show will be available on Showmax across 44 African countries, while U.S. audiences can access it on Cartoon Network and Max.

Set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, “Iyanu” follows an orphan who must uncover the mystery behind her newfound powers to save her people from an ancient curse. The series is adapted from Okupe’s graphic novel series “Iyanu: Child of Wonder,” published by Dark Horse Comics.

Serah Johnson leads the all-African voice cast as Iyanu, joined by Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Stella Damasus, Blossom Chukwujekwu and Shaffy Bello. The writers’ room was led by story editor Brandon Easton (“Transformers: War for Cybertron”), with contributions from Emmy winner Kerri Grant (“Doc McStuffins”).

“One of the reasons I started YouNeek Studios was because I literally grew up watching superhero stories on DStv in Lagos,...

Just days after Amazon Prime Video announced that it was pressing pause on its original content production in Africa, leading local streaming service Showmax is gearing up for a February relaunch boosted by NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology and bolstered by an ambitious content offering that will see the streamer unveiling 21 new African originals next month alone.

Speaking exclusively to Variety, company execs say the reboot puts the new-look platform in pole position to capture an even bigger slice of the burgeoning African SVOD market.

“We are doubling down on Africa,” says CEO Marc Jury. “We’ve been here for 38 years, and we intend to be here for a long time still to come. And we feel we’ve got all the best local knowledge in terms of understanding what content [is in demand] and how our customers want to consume it.”

Launched in 2015 by pan-African entertainment giant MultiChoice, which also owns leading pay-tv operator DStv,...

Exclusive: Tubi has landed U.S. and Canadian rights to South African limited series Devil’s Peak about a Detective tracking down a vigilante killer in Cape Town.

Penned by Moon Knight scribe Matthew Orton, the big-budget five-episode thriller is based on a hit 2004 novel by Deon Meyer and is produced by Happy Valley maker Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions in association with MultiChoice Studios and BBC Studios. It launched last year locally on South Africa’s M-Net and BBC Studios sells around the world.

Starring Hilton Pelser, the series follows Detective Benny Griessel, who is tasked with tracking down a vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. As he gets closer to his mark, Griessel finds himself drawn into a dark and dangerous world where nothing is what it seems.

Fox-owned Tubi has landed U.S. and Canadian rights from next week.

“Devil’s Peak...

M-Net Greenlights Season Two Of Fremantle Mystery Thriller ‘Reyka’

Iain Glen and Kim Engelbrecht will return for a second season of South Africa’s M-Net crime thriller series Reyka. Production on the Fremantle co-production, from writer Rohan Dickson, will begin early next year ahead of a late 2023 season launch. Season one of the show followed the titular Reyka (Engelbrecht) as a crime profiler hunting an elusive killer in KwaZulu-Natal’s sugarcane fields. Lemohang Tsipa and Samkelo Ndlovu are joining the cast for season two, which centers around couples who are attacked on the docks of Durban. Serena Cullen of Serena Cullen Productions in the UK (Lady Chatterley’s Lover) and Harriet Gavshon produce for Quizzical Pictures, with Serena Cullen, Gavshon Dickson, Nomsa Philiso, Jan du Plessis and Julie Hodge the executive producers.

David Thewlis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster Cast In Disney+’s ‘The Artful Dodger’

Filming is underway on Disney+ Australia’s drama...

South African crime drama “Reyka,” a co-production between global producer-distributor Fremantle and South African broadcaster M-Net, has been greenlit for a second season.

South African-born Kim Engelbrecht and Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”) will reprise their roles in the series from writer and creator Rohan Dickson, with production set to kick off in January 2023. Season 2 will premiere on M-Net in late 2023.

The first season of the English-language drama follows the crime profiler Reyka Gama (Engelbrecht) who, while haunted by her past, hunts an elusive serial killer in the sugarcane fields of KwaZulu-Natal. Her experience of being abducted as a child by a farmer named Speelman (Glen) has left her traumatized but also helps her enter the minds of Africa’s most notorious criminals.

The second season centers around a series of violent attacks in the port city of Durban and will see Reyka work with a new team to find...

Exclusive: Showmax content chief Yolisa Phahle has revealed how co-producing with international partners has helped the South Africa-based streamer compete with fierce SVoD competition, as a first trailer for its epic fantasy drama Blood Psalms is today unveiled. You can watch it here below.

Blood Psalms, from creators Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka from Yellowbone Entertainment, is a big budget co-production with France’s Canal+ — the latest in several collaborations between the companies — and is billed as Showmax’s “biggest and most ambitious series, completely unlike any other African series you’ve ever seen” by Nomsa Philiso, Executive Head of Programming at the streamer’s parent MultiChoice. The fantasy drama, shot entirely in African languages, has touches of Game of Thrones, set 11,000 years ago in ancient Africa in a world of warring factions and magic.

The synopsis reads: “In Ancient Africa, one thousand days after the fall of Atlantis,...

Bravo’s “Real Housewives” will be expanding in another continent.

The franchise has already travelled beyond the borders of the U.S., most recently with “The Real Housewives of Dubai”, but Variety reports that versions are in the works for Pretoria, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Variety, the announcement comes hot on the heels of the Real Housewives of Africa Summit in Cape Town, where American producers met with African production partners throughout the continent to exchange information on how to best launch successful “Housewives” shows in Africa.

Read More: NeNe Leakes Sues, Saying Racism Accepted On ‘Real Housewives’

“We are so proud to build on the continued success of the “Real Housewives’ franchises across Africa. The way each version faithfully embodies the spirit of the city, people and rich cultures it showcases connects with audiences across the region and the diaspora. It was such a magical moment...

NBCUniversal Formats has strengthened its partnership with leading African entertainment company Multichoice for several more African versions of “The Real Housewives” format.

First up are versions set in Nairobi and Pretoria, with several others in the pipeline. Independent production company Provoco is currently filming the 14-part series in Pretoria, while filming will commence on the Nairobi version in September with Kenyan producers Young Rich Television.

The expansion comes after NBCUniversal Formats recently held The Real Housewives of Africa Summit in Cape Town for its production partners across the continent. Across two days, local producers shared their experiences, heard how to create a successful franchise and connected with other global partners behind “The Real Housewives” series, including Matchbox Pictures and U.S. network Bravo.

Ana Langenberg, senior VP, format sales and productions, NBCUniversal Formats said: “We are so proud to build on the continued success of ‘The Real Housewives’ franchises across Africa.