Black Coffee Scores Animated Short APART
The South African DJ served as music supervisor for the animated film, which premiered at Tribeca and screened at FAME Week Africa in Cape Town.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in African-American
Black Coffee served as music supervisor and added a soundscape to APART, an animated short directed by Pola Maneli about two boys forming a friendship under apartheid South Africa. The film had its African premiere at the Fame Shorts Film Festival during FAME Week Africa in Cape Town.
Why it matters
The film draws on South African history and local creative talent, bringing an apartheid-era story to international festival audiences and to African viewers in Cape Town. Its production of animated storytelling rooted in anti-apartheid visual traditions highlights African voices in global animation.
APART was created over 600 days by a team of 266 professionals, combining four animation techniques including 2D, cut-out, and 3D styles. The source does not specify the exact date of the African premiere or the Tribeca screening.
The players
Black Coffee
South African DJ and producer known internationally for his house music work, who served as music supervisor on APART.
Spike Lee
American filmmaker and founder of the production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, who co-wrote APART.
The details
APART, written by Spike Lee, Tim Jones, Jeff Leisawitz, and Lubabalo Mtati and produced by Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks banner, follows Themba and Joel. One visual thread draws on anti-apartheid woodcut printmaking used by Black artists between 1948 and 1994.
Timeline
Production of APART spanned 600 days, with the timeframe of the 1948 to 1994 printmaking tradition it references.
The film premiered at Tribeca during its global festival run before its African premiere at FAME Week Africa in Cape Town.
Culture Shift
APART extends the anti-apartheid woodcut printmaking tradition used by Black artists between 1948 and 1994 into animated filmmaking. The work reflects a broader movement of South African creators reclaiming historical visual language for contemporary storytelling.
Audiences can encounter APART through festival screenings like those at Tribeca and FAME Week Africa rather than a confirmed public release. The source does not specify a streaming platform or wider distribution date for viewers.
The takeaway
APART shows how historical art forms can be carried into new media, with a production built without artificial intelligence over 600 days. For readers interested in South African creative work, following festival programming is one way to find emerging films like this.
Further reading
Explore more African-American culture coverage for context on the traditions and creators behind this film.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Bona Magazine.
