Sizwe Sibiya
In ancient Africa, one thousand years after the fall of Atlantis, the five surviving houses of Kemet find themselves overcome with fears of a prophesied End of Days.
This is the premise of the upcoming Showmax series Blood Psalms, which boasts an all-African cast including Sello Maake KaNcube, Zolisa Xaluva, Thabo Rametsi and Thando Thabethe.
The series will be screened for the first time as the headliner for the opening night at MIP Africa on Wednesday in Cape Town.
In the series, the house of Chini, Akachi, Ku’ua, Uchawi and Kush go head-to-head in a quest to find the one true leader who is going to save the world.
“Blood Psalms is an imagining that will take you on a journey about love, power and destiny,” said Showmax, sharing the official trailer on YouTube.
Actress Bokang Phelane from Isidingo and Keeping Score plays the lead as Princess Zazi, a fiercely determined teenage princess who must navigate “primordial curses, long-standing ancestral vendettas, and her inexplicable role as the damning prophecy’s chief harbinger”.
Phelane said she got the experience of a lifetime on set. “I got to witness the greats at work. The cast is filled with actors who have inspired me from quite early on in my life to pursue acting,” she said in a statement released by Showmax.
Award-winning star Mothusi Magano plays Zazi’s father, “mad King Letsha”, alongside SAFTA winner Zolisa Xaluva from Gomora and Knuckle City, who plays General Toka, the head of the Akachi army in King Letsha’s palace.
“One thing that was brilliant for us was no use of an English word, whatsoever,” added Maake kaNcube.
“This time, the dialogue is purely in African languages.”
The 11-episode series will premiere officially on 28 September on Showmax.
Image source: Showmax
Video source: YouTube
