Blinkink, the London-based production studio, has added Ng’endo Mukii to its directorial roster for global representation spanning short-form fare across commercials, branded content, short films and music videos. The Boston-based filmmaker is also going to continue working with Blinkink’s long-form division as development projects come along. They’ve had an acclaimed collaboration already on the Disney+ anthology series, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, which last week saw its “Enkai” episode win an Annie Award for animation excellence in the TV/Media–Limited Series category.
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire showcases African animation, consisting of 10 diverse stories from across the continent, including Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Drawing from her own Kenyan heritage, Mukii wrote and directed “Enkai,” the series’ final episode. The 11-minute installment was produced by Blinkink’s long-form division, Blink Industries, in collaboration with South African studio Triggerfish Animation. “Enkai” is a culmination of several years of Mukii’s exploration into mixed media filmmaking. She wanted to work specifically with Blink to create a mesmerizing experience of CGI, 2D and stop-motion animation worlds, all seen through the eyes of a goddess child.
Mukii’s work focuses on relationships, the separation between perception and reality, and the use of moving images to represent unspoken truths. Identity also plays an important role in her creative process and inspiration. In 2015, she gave a talk entitled “Film Taxidermy and Re-Animation” at the Design Indaba Conference, proposing the use of animation as a means of re-humanizing the “indigenous” image, a people whose “real” image is burdened by stereotypes of being the “Other.” Similar themes are explored in her critically acclaimed animated documentary Yellow Fever, which reflects on Western influences on African beauty.
Mukii is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and holds a Master of Arts in Animation from the Royal College of Art. She is an alum of Berlinale Talents, the Urucu Media REALNESS Screenwriter’s Residency, and the Goethe Institute Bahia Vila Sul Artists Residency. She’s also a Professor of the Practice at SMFA at Tufts University in Boston and a writer on Netflix’s first African animated series, Supa Team 4.
