Made in Africa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Age of Empires

Developed by Ensemble Studios, the "Age of Empires" franchise is a series of real time strategy games that are historically based. The first in the series was released in 1997.

In 2015 they released "Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms". This would be the third expansion pack to "Age of Empires II", originally released in 1999. Three of the four civilisations featured in this pack are based on the African continent. These include:
- The Berbers, where your task is to unite the tribes of Northern Africa
- The Malians, where you seek to become the greatest king of Western Africa by conquering the kingdoms that surround you and
- The Ethiopians, where you take over the mighty Aksumite Empire and rule over the Red Sea.
The final civilization in this pack was the Portuguese Empire.

This question was switched on by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who has no empire but certainly has enough age... not that it shows.

Answer: Angola

Portugal resisted decolonization of its African colonies until 1975 when political turmoil spilt over in a coup. Hundreds of thousands of white Portuguese living in the colonies of Angola and Mozambique fled back to Portugal. In this 2015 novel, Ludo, our protagonist, reacts by bricking herself into her apartment and relying on a carrier pigeon as her sole connection to the outside world. The situation changes when a young boy attempts to burgle her apartment and he tells her what has happened over the last 30 years which, in effect, is a history of Angola since independence.

The novelist, Jose Eduardo Agualusa is an Angolan journalist of Brazilian descent. This novel was short-listed for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize.

This question was inserted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's resident Lusophile 1nn1.

Answer: Nigeria

Damini can claim some early family, musical, influence; his maternal grandfather managing the famed Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and providing an introduction. Ogulu would leave Nigeria to study media before returning home to launch his music career.

His debut album "L.I.F.E." (2013), which was a mix of Afrobeats and road rap, was praised by critics and nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. It would peak at number seven on the US Billboard Reggae charts. His third album "African Giant" (2019) would be nominated for the Best World Album, but he would lose out to Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo and her album "Celia". The following year he would win that category with his next album "Twice as Tall", which also made him the first Nigerian artist to earn back-to-back nominations at the Grammys.

Burna Boy describes his music as Afro fusion and cites his influences as Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade and Bob Marley.

This question was recorded by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19, whose poor attempt at humour, suggesting that Burna was the love-child of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, fell on deaf ears.

Answer: Antony and Cleopatra

One of the most famous adaptations of the play was the 1966 Samuel Barber Opera for the Met in New York City. It featured Leontyne Price as Cleopatra and Justino Diaz as Mark Antony. The opera was a flop but is was revised and by 1975 it premiered again at Julliard. In 1980 it premiered in Europe at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris.

In 2022, John Adams premiered his opera based on the play for the San Francisco Opera. It featured Amina Edris as Cleopatra and Gerald Finley as Antony. The opera is over three hours long and according to critics, makes the orchestra the star.

This question was entered into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619 who does not care for opera and wore earplugs while writing it.

Answer: Legal

This programme represents Nigeria's, indeed Africa's, first ever legal television drama. Screened exclusively on Netflix upon its launch, the show has, initially, run for two seasons and employed a number of Nigeria's A-list actors. Among these are Richard Mofe-Damijo, Dakore Akande, Deyemi Okanlawon and Daniel Etim Effiong.

Set in Lagos, the series follows the trials (pun intended) of Remi and Tega Castle, a husband and wife team who don't always agree on things. While audiences have taken to the couple the question on everyone's lips is "will their marriage survive".

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who once sued an airline for losing his luggage... unfortunately, for him, he lost the case.

Answer: Timbuktu

From June of 2012 to January of 2013 Ansar Dine controlled Timbuktu along with most of northern Mali. The movie is set in Timbuktu specifically during this time. It tells the story of how Ansar Dine imposed a strict form of Sharia Law on the population and the resulting atrocities this brought about.

The film won critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language. It won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the François Chalais Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This question was entered into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619 who does not watch foreign language films but can Google very well.

Answer: Boots

"Boots" was first published in 1903 in Rudyard Kipling's collection of poems entitled "The Five Nations". It has a subtitle, "Infantry Columns". The poem relates that the soldiers can only see, hear and feel their boots as they march relentlessly for hours and days in South Africa. The poem repeats words over and over again to impress upon the reader the monotony of marching. Although the soldiers can put up with hunger, thirst and fatigue, the sight of their boots endlessly moving up and down nearly drives them to madness. It is said that the first four words of each line of the poem read at two words per second is equivalent to the marching pace of the British infantry.

This question was made to march in perfect time by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: A baby

"Tsotsi", which is an adaptation of Athol Fugard's novel of the same name, was co-produced by entities from South Africa and the United Kingdom. The film is set in Johannesburg's Alexandra slum. David, a young boy whose mother is dying, runs away from his abusive father and joins a group of homeless children. Several years later he changes his name to Tsotsi (short for "tsotsitaal", which means "criminal") and is the leader of a gang. He steals a car and finds a baby in the back seat. Realizing that he cannot care for the baby, he finds a woman with a young child and coerces her to feed the baby. He eventually leaves the baby in her care. The woman persuades Tsotsi to return the baby to his parents. Tsotsi agrees to do so and is confronted by the police when he arrives at the parents' house. The film does not disclose what happens to Tsotsi but provides two alternative endings on DVD.

"Tsotsi" received praise for multiple aspects including cinematography and performance. It was the first South African film, as well as the first African film not made in French, to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This question was found in the back seat of a stolen car by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: To ensure the survival of the hominid species as it evolves

The game was directed by Patrice Desilets, the creator of the "Assassin's Creed" series of video games. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019 and made available on Steam the following year.

"Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey" is of the survival genre and is played from a third-person perspective. It is set in pre-historic Africa. Players manage a hominid's health by eating, drinking and sleeping. They also have to train the hominid to develop their intelligence, senses and skills and ensure the knowledge is passed on to succeeding generations. The game spans several million years and tracks the evolution of the hominid species.

This question was un-naturally selected by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: John Kongos

Kongos was a regular feature on the South African charts during the early to mid 1960s, mainly as the front-man for his group John Kongos and the G-Men. The band was based in Johannesburg, punching out a consistent stream of singles and EPs with their garage style rock. Kongos moved to London in 1966 and formed the band Floribunda Rose. They released a couple of singles before splintering into the psychedelic outfit Scrugg, with whom Kongos recorded a further three releases, the most memorable being "I Wish I Was Five".

Kongos went alone and recorded his first solo album, "Confusions About a Goldfish" in 1969 to little fanfare. His follow up "Kongos" (1971) would produce his biggest hit world-wide, "He's Gonna Step on You Again", which peaked at number four on the UK Singles' chart and broke into the US Billboard Hot 100. His follow up single, "Tokoloshe Man" (1971) would also chart well for him.
Kongos continued to work as a composer, producer and, notably, as a sound engineer with his most prominent work being on Def Leppard's 1983 album, "Pyromania". Kongos was inducted into the South African Music Hall of Fame in 2009.

(Footnote) The Guinness Book of World Records cited the song "He's Gonna Step on You Again" as the first song to make use of a sample. Kongos, however, torpedoed this with the sleeve notes on the CD re-issue of the album (2014), stating that it was merely a tape loop of African drumming.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 stepped up with this question, reminiscing that one of the first albums he purchased was "Explosive Hits '71" and, one of the main reasons was "He's Gonna Step on You Again".