Fremantle and Passenger, the company founded by True Detective producer Richard Brown, alongside Infront, a sports marketing firm, have teamed up to produce a documentary series about the launch of the NBA-affiliated Basketball Africa League.
South African director, Tebogo Malope of Queen Sono fame, will helm the series, that will chart the inaugural season of BAL, a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa tipping off on May 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The series will follow the stories of the players, coaches and teams from across Africa as they prepare for and compete in the first BAL season, which finals is slated for May 30.
Also expected to assist Malope on the series development besides executive producer Brown, are Oscar-winning filmmaker, Fisher Stevens (Tiger King), and acclaimed Nigerian director/producer, Akin Omotoso.
Speaking on the landmark documentary series, BAL President, Amadou Gallo Fall, stated, “We are honoured to partner with such illustrious producers and visionary filmmakers to tell the story of the Basketball Africa League’s inaugural season. ”
“The BAL will have a transformational impact on basketball and sports as a whole in Africa, and this project will capture this historic moment in time for generations to come,” he added.
Beaming with happiness at being cast as lead director, Malope noted, “I’m beyond excited about this project because it places African storytellers at the helm of their own story. ”
The 12 teams that will compete in the inaugural BAL season are Angola’s Petro de Luanda, Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers, Morocco’s AS Sale, Zamalek of Egypt, Senegal’s AS Douanes and US Monastir of Tunisia. Others are representatives from Algeria, Cameroun, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda.
