Source: Emmanuel Bobbie/An African City Limited
The internet is a glorious thing… when in the right hands.
For filmmakers in particular, it has become a landscape to explore different story lines and walk’s of life that the mainstream world would otherwise not know. Creator and executive producer of ‘An African City‘, Nicole Amarteifio, is well aware of this and using it to her advantage for the second season of her hit Web series.
“It’s not about the love interests; it’s about the five women,” Amarteifio exclusively told HelloBeautiful in an interview.
“People complained about the sexual nature of the show in Season One, the rebellious creative that I am I said, ‘Oh, really?’ So, I had to step it up in Season Two.”
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For those of you who aren’t in the know about the binge-worthy show: ‘An African City’ is set in Accra, Ghana, a metropolis in West Africa, home to 1.6 million and a tech hub in the burgeoning continent of Africa. In season one (available here) we were introduced to NanaYaa, played by MaameYaa Boafo who returns to her home country, after spending her adult years in New York City and completing her graduate journalism studies at Columbia University.
She, along with her four friends Sade, Makena, Zainab and Ngozi traverse the world of first-Generationers and modern women dealing with everything from airport customs and restaurant policies to sexual promiscuity, natural hair, and condom etiquette.
Naturally, the show gets constant comparison to HBO’s iconic series ‘Sex and the City‘– being a group of women with distinct personalities, tastes, and background who deal with the same relatable issues as any other late 20s, early 30-somethings. But what makes the show that much more intriguing is how it realistically portrays a country –dare we say continent as a whole– that is often marginalized and misrepresented.
The show is controversial. It’s sexy. It defies stereotypes. And more importantly, it’s addictive.
Addictive enough to hold its own in the sea of other independently scripted shows and companies like Black & Sexy TV, Issa Rae Productions and ‘Broad City‘ before signing with Comedy Central.
“The thing is, reading those complaints [from Season One], I felt the point of the show itself was being lost,” Amarteifio added about the backlash to the show’s extra steamy sex scenes. “This is the story about five women. THIS is how they choose to live their lives. If you are sex shaming the characters, if you are sex shaming the show itself –then who are you sex shaming in real life?”
The five main actresses and production team do an excellent job of making the characters intriguing enough to keep us on our heels week after week. And the fashion… lust-worthy to say the least, tapping designers like Christie Brown.
Essentially the series has all the elements for peak #blackgirlmagic. The only question is, will you be watching with us?
Check out the second season of “An African City” by going here.
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‘An African City’ Debuts Second Season (It’s Steamy!), Continues Defying Stereotypes was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
