I don’t know what I was expecting when I got a ticket to this screening. Truthfully, this documentary wasn’t high on my list, because I’m not a sports fan, and my expectations going into the theatre were pretty low.
But boy, did this documentary get me.
Co-directed by Richard Brown and Tebogo Malope, Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League follows the story of the inaugural games of the Basketball Africa Leage (BAL) – held in 2021, its players representing 12 countries on the continent, and the minds behind its conception, including Amadou Gallo Fall, former scouting director of the Dallas Mavericks, and Masai Ujiri, former General Manager of Canada’s own Toronto Raptors. It even features interviews from J. Cole and Barack Obama (and sports journalist, Usher Komugisha, who I just loved seeing on screen because I was learning so much from her).
Seeing as I am not a sports fan, I wasn’t even aware that the BAL existed. But its mission to find and develop talent within the continent and with the right infrastructure, and to build a league that rivals the NBA which will also be good for economic growth, is one that is so inspiring. The documentary emphasises this, and also gives insights into some of the players – who have each had different journeys, are of different backgrounds, and at different career levels, highlighting the diversity of the continent and the different stories that exist within it. It even comes complete with chalkboard style drawings of the African map and explanation of how the games would work, which I thought was fun.
I said when I saw The Eyes of Ghana that one day I will do something and cite that documentary as my inspiration, and I feel that way about Origin too. They both made me proud to be African and challenged me into thinking about ways to move us forward.
Only the first two episodes of Origin were screened at TIFF, so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of this four-part series (and what the BAL is up to now).
Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League is now playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
