Long story short

A 13-year old fights to protect his siblings from a menacing monster that hides within their own house. A girl sets out upon a quest to stop a drought. A mourning mother seeks revenge.

These are some of the stories told in African Folktales, Reimagined, a new series on Netflix. Created in collaboration with UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. It aims to promote international cooperation in the arts, education, science and culture. , the show turns traditional stories from across the continent into 30-minute films. 

Each explores modern day issues. Kenyan director Voline Ogutu's Anyango and the Ogre, for instance, is set in a sci-fi world where married women live in luxury while the unmarried face poverty. Zabin Halima, by Nigeria's Korede Azeez, tells the story of a girl who dates an AIA computer programme that has been designed to think.  in order to escape an arranged marriageA marriage planned by (usually) the families of a couple, rather than the couple themselves. .

The series aims to keep folktales alive. Folktales everywhere are threatened with extinction. A 2017 survey in the UK found that two-thirds of parents have no intention to pass down stories to their children. 

The loss is even greater in Africa. During the colonialWhen a region or country is controlled politically by another. period, colonisers banned many African languages and stories. This disconnected peoples from their own culture and heritage. 

Folk stories reopen a link to this past. South African film-maker Gcobisa Yako says: "All these platforms exist now and we need to utilise them to preserve these stories."

Many believe folktales are a key part of our identity as humans. It's all in the name - folk tales are "stories of the people". The tales a society tells reveal its hopes and fears, values and taboosThings that are forbidden due to social rules of behaviour.. 

Humans have always told stories. Cave people even painted stories on their stone walls. As historian Yuval Noah Harari says: "Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of the world by telling stories."

They have lasted an incredibly long time. We know very little about the day-to-day lives of people in, say, Ancient China. But know their myths, legends and fables.

Yet some think such stories belong in the past. Human society has changed hugely. It is a tall order to expect the stories of our ancestors to have something to say to us. We need to make new tales to suit our time.

And stories can easily be used for evil. DictatorsRulers with total power over a country. create myths about their lives. And Donald Trump told a fake story about a stolen election. 

Yes: We are obsessed with stories, from folktales to television dramas. And we cannot stop creating them, whether through spreading rumours, retelling amusing anecdotes or posting videos on TikTok.

No: We use stories to make sense of our humanity. They help us to pass down ideas, interpret the world and come together. But they are a tool. They do not make us human, anymore than other tools do.

Or... Stories have become so tied up with our lives that it is almost impossible to imagine life without them. We would have to develop an entirely new way of seeing the world. But perhaps we should try.