Idris Elba has spoken of his desire to revolutionize African cinema by developing the “African Odeon”—a continent-wide chain of theatres aimed at reigniting the joy of the big screen. Speaking at SXSW London, Elba highlighted the shockingly low number of cinemas in Africa and expressed his passion to grow the industry, one step at a time. His vision includes using data to prove demand and build infrastructure to support local storytelling. Rooted in his African heritage, Elba, inspired by the rise of Afrobeats and Nollywood, sees immense potential in the continent’s creators. Beyond cinema, Elba is innovating with tools like Talking Scripts, designed to convert written material into audio, and Akuna Wallet, developed to facilitate easier cross-border payments for creatives.
The Guardian
