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Telling African stories through video games

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LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP or licensors

France

Inspired by famous footballers and other African heroes, 27-year-old Teddy Kossoko creates video games with the aim of promoting the "cultural richness" of his native continent.

Kosoko said,"we have countries in northern Europe with viking stories, in Asia, in South Korea, in Japan with samurai stories. Thanks to video games, people know these stories. So I thought that with all the cultural richness of Africa, the 54 countries, the folklore, why don’t I use these tales to tell the story of Africa? "

"If you take the trader video, the trailer, we travelled to Central Africa and we made a real film. We took real actors for two days, we shot in stadiums, we chose sports, " he added.

Haunted with the negative stereotypes of Africa Kossoko wants to change that through video games

Kosoko argued that "as Africans, we start with an historical disadvantage. There is a whole set of things to be deconstructed. We must teach young people to love themselves, to value themselves. There is a huge problem with this. And for us, that is the heart of our creations. We really want people to deconstruct the things that have been put in their head: that they are not beautiful, that they are useless, that they are good for nothing etc."

Based in Toulouse, France, Kosoko outlines his latest creation, "Golden Georges", whose main character is inspired by Liberian football legend and current president George Weah.

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