Unfortunately, if you’re in Nigeria, it won’t exactly be coming to a television near you.
Binti, a multiple award-winning science fiction novella by Nnedi Okorafor, will be adapted for screen and will premiere on the U.S based platform, Hulu. Hulu is an on-demand subscription video service owned by Walt Disney, and is currently only available in the U.S.
In Binti, a young Himba woman from Earth (loosely based on the actual Himba people of Namibia) is accepted into Oomza Uni, a prestigious intergalactic university. She runs away from home to take up her admission, but the ship she takes is hijacked while in transit, by a jellyfish-like alien species called the Meduse. The Meduse begin to murder everyone on board. In her panic, Binti discovers that some things she has brought with her from home have powers that may just save her life, and possibly do even more. Binti has two sequels; Binti: Home and Binti: The Night Masquerade. In 2015 and 2016, the first installation, Binti, won the Nebula Award for Best Novella, Hugo Award for Best Novella and the BookTube SFF Award for Best Novella. It was also nominated for BSFA Award for Best Short Story, the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella, and the Locus Award for Best Novella. The Hugo and Nebula awards are given to outstanding books in the genre of science fiction.
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Hulu has ordered a script for all three novella parts, and the script will be co-written by Nnedi Okorafor and Stacy Osei-Kuffour. Stacy Osei-Kuffour, for her own part, is an Emmy nominated scriptwriter with a trail of achievements. With these two brilliant writers on the job, Binti on Hulu will be something to look out for. A synopsis of Binti, according to the Hollywood Reporter, where the news was first published:
The recipient of the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards for best novella, Binti is set in a technologically and socially advanced future. It tells the story of a brilliant and rebellious young woman who is destined to lead her community in Africa. But when she’s admitted to the most prestigious academy in the galaxy, she chooses a different path and, rejecting her family’s wishes, leaves her community behind in favor of the starry skies.
Nnedi Okorafor’s press release was fairly brief. She’s been holding in the news for some time now, fit to burst, as we can all probably imagine.
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It’s been a good run for Nnedi Okorafor recently. In 2017, it was announced that another of her novels, Who Fears Death, would be adapted for the screen to premiere on HBO, and that George R.R Martin (the author of those amazing Game of Thrones books) would be the executive producer on the project. At this point, we’re wondering how Nnedi Okorafor can handle all the excitement. A fan asked if there was still talk of HBO doing the Who Fears Death novel, and Okorafor responded ‘yup’. Our question now is, how do fans based in Nigeria access these TV goodies? ConnectNigeria will give you updates when we find out. Stay tuned.
Sources:
Okayafrica
Hollywood Reporter
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It was really a great entertainment and i love it.