If you’re a fan of inspiring epic trips that push man to his limits, Africa and I, now streaming on Showmax, is certainly a documentary you should check out.
It tells the story of 20-year-old Othmane Zolati, who had never left his home country of Morocco when he started his nearly four-year journey to Cape Town, South Africa.
Incredibly, he started his journey with just $80, a small backpack, and a borrowed cheap pocket camera. The 90-minute documentary relives Othmane’s trip, detailing how he walked, hitchhiked, cycled and skateboarded over 30,000 km through 24 countries.
‘Africa and I’ on Showmax: Othmane’s experience
Showmax’s Africa and I viewers will witness Othmane’s experience of exploring the four corners of Africa. Basically, he saw it all. He found a professional music recording studio in a backyard next to some chickens; went on a skateboarding tour of Ethiopia; boated through the Venice of Africa in Benin; and experienced the trucker lifestyle.
He also spent time with the Maasai, the Hamer and the Himba people, sharing a more traditional side of African life. To pay his way, among other jobs, he worked as a fisherman in Senegal; as a mechanic in Mali; as a photographer and tour guide in Zanzibar; and selling shoes in Cote d’Ivoire.
Along the journey Othmane survived three bouts of malaria; tried to escape border police on a skateboard; got lost for five days in a desert without enough water; was stopped in the middle of a no man’s land by a group of people with guns; and ended up in Zambia with only $5 in his pocket.
But for every near-death experience, there were many more moments of marveling at the beauty and diversity of Africa, not to mention the kindness and generosity of her people.
“This is not what I’ve seen in the media all my life; this is not the Africa I was warned about,” he says in Africa and I. “This is why I’m here, to see things differently, to have my own experiences, and to change my way of thinking about this continent.”
On his travels, Othmane was struck again and again by the continent’s diversity. “The diversity that we have on this continent is unbelievable,” Othmane says. “In the east of Africa, everything was different. It’s just like another continent… It’s mind blowing to be in the same continent but different cultures, different colours, different climates.”
About Othmane
Othmane grew up in El Jadida, a little coastal town south of Casablanca. Morocco, like South Africa, has a complicated relationship with the rest of the continent and its sense of identity. “The majority of us Moroccans, think that Morocco exists in another continent,” Othmane says. “We always put Morocco as an Arab country and not Africa. But it’s not.”
He was named Adventurer of the Year at the 2018 Moroccan Adventure Film Festival, and was recognised and awarded as one of the world’s best travellers at the Dubai Travelers Festival in 2017.
Early reviews of Africa and I are glowing, with Saturday Star calling it “an unrivalled glimpse into life on the continent,” Vamers “a thrilling trip through unseen Africa,” and Spling “exhilarating… a beautiful and stirring mashup of people, culture and places.”
It’s amazing that Othmane is the documentary’s director and executive producer, using the hundreds of hours of footage he taught himself to shoot along the way. He has collaborated with a team of award-winning South African creatives he met at the end of his trip, including SAFTA-winning Chris Green (co-director), production company Both Worlds, as well as composer Daniel Eppel and editor Kirsten de Magalhaes, both SAFTA winners.
Africa and I is a film about seeing things with fresh eyes, throwing away preconceptions, and making the most of what you have, where you are. The soundtrack offers a musical journey too, combining contemporary and traditional music to create a stunning aural landscape. Sit back and relax as one young man, without a plan, equipment, or a film crew, shows us a different version of Africa, through African eyes.
He is already planning his next trip. “I have crossed the land,” he says. “What is left now is the ocean. My next journey is going to be on a sailing boat around the world, single-handed.”
As Othmane says at the end of Africa and I, “I always think about the entire universe that ultimately exists when you walk out of the door. And if I said no to these dreams, I would have had regrets all my life.”
Watch Africa and I trailer on YouTube here and the documentary on Showmax here. You can also view Othmane’s photography on Instagram.