In a new 6 part series for Dutch television, Ikenna Azuike travels through various African communities in Europe in search of the meaning of home.
What do Afro-Europeans tell us about making a home? And how do you find the right balance when uniting two continents within you? Nigerian-British-Dutch Ikenna Azuike (45) has a fine career and a nice family. Yet he feels “split.” In his tv-series The Afro-European Azuike visits Somali Finns, Cape Verdean Portuguese and Congolese Belgians, among others. How did they take root here?
Ikenna Azuike feels something is missing. He has a great talent for adapting, but finds that he has neglected part of his identity all these years. Determined to explore his “cultural split” and find his sense of home, he searches for what he is and tries to find a balance between the African and the European in himself. He travels through Europe, longing for advice from people who, like him, live in Europe and have African roots.
In this series, director Soraya Pol celebrates the Afro-European and follows Ikenna on his expedition of meaning that has both stirring encounters and severe trials. The viewer discovers how different Afro-Europeans made a home in Europe through trial and error. From Somalis in Finland and Cape Verdeans in Portugal to Nigerians in England and a centuries-old Sudanese community in Cyprus.
About Ikenna Azuike
Ikenna Azuike (1979) is a sought-after journalist, presenter, speaker and filmmaker. Together with his wife Mette te Velde, he founded the Strawberry Earth Foundation, a creative agency dedicated to sustainability and a fair, green world. With his own production company Jollof Rice Productions, he made, among other things, the BBC satirical news show What's Up Africa. He also presented the Planet Nigeria tv-series and VPRO’s Tegenlicht: The Post-Racist Planet.
About Soraya Pol
For over a decade, Caribbean-Dutch Soraya Pol (1987) has been working as a researcher on several documentaries such as Wit is ook een kleur (2016), De hokjesman (2016), Stuk ( 2019) and Blue Monday (2021). As a creative filmmaker, she directed Just Crazy (2020), The Post-racist Planet (2020), Rather Crucible (2021) and Little Boss (2023). She also co-directed The Last Chance ( 2023). Soraya delves into major social and societal challenges and intimately portrays how they affect everyday life on a human level.
The Afro-European, from October 16, weekly, 10:15 p.m., VPRO, NPO 2 and NPO Start.
