AfricaIs aCountry

'Short Cut'

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

'Short Cut'

By
Sean Jacobs

The trailer for the feature film “Short Cut” (to be directed by Norman Maake) about the quest of two brothers to escape a life of hardship and political turmoil in Zimbabwe and decide to travel to Johannesburg only to be forced into slavery in an illegal mine in a border town. As Maake explains: “They plot an escape but are seperated instead. One gets deported back and the other is left stranded in no man land.. Inches away from freedom he is forced to turn back and search for his brother dead or alive bring him back to the city of promise or slums.”

The film is still in development phase.

For more information also read this essay (part of a fundraising effort) about the genesis of”Short Cuts” by the film’s producer David Max Brown.

Further Reading

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.