Mandla Dube’s “Heart of the Hunter” on Netflix March 29, 2024
While Mandla Dube is developing and prepping for his Yasuke feature film, Netflix has revealed his upcoming Heart of the Hunter, premiering on Netflix on 29th March, 2024. This is one part of Mandla’s high-profile talent deal with them. The film, directed by the incomparable Mandlakayise Walter Dube, (SAFTA Winning Silverton Siege), is set in a post-democratic […]
Meeting in Tokyo to plan the Yasuke Film Projects
Professor KANEKO Hiraku of Tokyo University, Mandla Dube and Deborah DeSnoo, meeting in Tokyo to discuss plans for a dramatic feature film on Yasuke.
South African director Mandla Dube at Akira Kurosawa’s grave
South African director Mandla Dube(Kalushi (2016, now on Netflix) at Akira Kurosawa’s grave at An’yō-in Temple, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Mandla was in Japan to do research and logistical planing for his film on Yasuke, the 16th century African warrior who became the first non-Japanese Samurai. He has partnered with Floyd Webb(assoc producer, Julie Dash’s […]
South African Director Mandla Dube meets with Netflix about his Yasuke feature project.
South African director Mandla Dube, whose film Kalushi is presently playing on Netflix, met in Johannesburg with Ted Sarandon and David Kosse, content officers of Netflix, talking about his upcoming dramatic action feature on Yasuke. Deborah and I have partnered with him to provide research and story consultancy for his project, that will be a Netflix […]
Creating World’s, Defining Characters
The challenge in story-telling is not to just tell the tale, it is to create a world. No two people will tell a story the same way. But the story is often dependent on what a person know of life and the depth of one’s internal experiences, one’s motivations. The ancient world is a […]
Yasuke enters pop culture through video games. But it’s all wrong.
S.O.S. 500 year of Misinformation to Undo This is the kind of ahistorical narrative we fight. It remixes history from the point of internet posts. The image of him defeated, kneeling before the European dressed as a Samurai, is more historical fantasy and an affront to the history of black martial ability. So, even though it […]
Of Yasuke, the Western Lens and Historical Filters
Making Yasuke Happen. Great news this month. Deborah DeSnoo and I have obtained the support of a major company in Japan to partner with us in the production of an animated documentary and to pursue a live action multi-part series. It’s not over. We can’t buy a cup of coffee with it yet but agreements are […]
Yasuke, the journey so far.
Independent filmmaking ain’t easy.. Film projects come, film project go. They pile up, in different states of development. One sometimes leapfrogging the other. Each poured out of a soul, each deserving of being told bathed in cinema firelight. You keep your nose to the grindstone and your ear to the ground. Start something new to pay rent, time […]
Research and Development has begun on the Yasuke Film
We are now deep into research and development on The Yasuke film. Deborah DeSnoo in Japan, Floyd Webb in Chicago and Johnpaul William in Los Angeles are hard at work as a team in a unified effort to make this project happen. Based in Japan, Deborah DeSnoo has done epic documentaries before. You might have seen […]
