About Blood Psalms
Blood Psalms is a South African fantasy epic that premiered on Showmax in 2022, created by Layla Swart and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and produced by the Cape Town studio Yellowbone. Set in a mythic ancient Africa, the series unfolds across rival kingdoms whose fates are bound together by prophecy. The story centers on Zazi, a headstrong teenage princess of the Daughters of the Sun, whose birth was foretold to coincide with an apocalyptic reckoning that could either save or doom her people.
When a catastrophe shatters the old order and her father the king is killed, Zazi is thrust into a struggle for survival and succession. She must navigate scheming elders, warring tribes, and supernatural forces while questioning whether she is the prophesied liberator or the harbinger of ruin. Around her, a sprawling cast of warriors, priestesses, and would-be rulers pursue their own designs, and ancient powers stir as the prophecy moves toward fulfillment.
Blending Pan-African mythology with high-fantasy spectacle, Blood Psalms drew attention for its scale, its visual design, and its all-African cast and crew. The series leans into themes of destiny, colonial memory, and the weight of leadership, positioning itself as one of the most ambitious genre productions to emerge from the continent. It was promoted as part of a broader push to tell African stories on an epic canvas, and it ran for a single ten-episode season.
