Zimbabwean’s Animated Musical, Tunga Secures A Deal With Netflix

You may have not heard of the name Godwin Jabangwe but the screenwriter has hit the big time as Netflix has secured rights to his musical Tunga. Tunga is inspired by Jabangwe’s Zimbabwean roots and tells a story that many Zimbos will find relatable.

According to Deadline, “It tells the tale of a young African girl named Tunga, who, after the death of her father, must venture to a mythical lost city where her people’s spiritual elders can teach her how to summon the rain and save her village from a long-enduring drought. Accompanying Tunga is her animal totem Zuze — a wooden figurine that comes to life as a trouble-making honey badger — who Tunga must learn to trust and work with in order to complete her journey.”

That sounds like an exciting film and I can’t wait for the musical to air on Netflix. Jabangwe was obviously pretty excited to be part of Netflix’s line-up and spoke glowingly of his new partners:

I never dreamed that a story set in Zimbabwe, on the streets that I grew up playing soccer with a homemade ball, would get made. I’m thrilled to be working with Netflix to bring Tunga to life and grateful to Imagine Impact for helping me take the strand of an idea and weaving it into a tale that I truly hope the world will love.

Tunga was picked under the Impact program developed to open a door to new voices by paying unknowns to develop film and TV projects that were pitched to the industry late last year.