The Disconnect in Cameroonian TV: On Storytelling and the Samba Trailer
A writer new to Cameroonian cinema examines why the trailer for the award-winning series Samba fails to compel, analyzing the gap between technically accomplished production and narrative clarity through the lens of classical screenwriting structure.
Samba has to have one of the worst trailers I have ever come across.
I am doing my best to get accustomed to all things Cameroonian especially with my new job as a writer for PoiseSocial. The Cameroonian movie industry remains a mystery for me and I am working hard to change that. This television series ’Samba’ came into my radar after it won three trophies at this year’s Golden Movie Awards in Ghana. While still trying to figure out how to lay hands on a DVD, I did what most of us would do - went on YouTube to watch the trailer.
The voice over description of the series in the trailer is as follows:-
“This is an era where women rise above their boundaries, where fashion trends beyond reason, where the language of love is unfamiliar, where tears are hidden behind the smiles. An era of Samba, where the reputation of a perfect marriage cousin couple is on the line(I’m not quite sure about this but this what I think I heard). We are honestly robbed by disloyalty and deceit. A tale of love, pain and ambition.”
After watching the trailer and listening to that description of the film, I am not interested in watching for many reasons. I do know a little about movies and what makes a good script and I don't get the feeling the story is a good one neither is it well told.
The formula is “You have a main character(protagonist) who has a main problem and in trying to solve the problem meets certain obstacles” and that formula is implemented by “ Opening -> inciting incident -> escalating conflict ->crises (climax) -> Final Challenge -> Resolution. ”
A TV series is written by having different iterations of the same formula where everything else changes except the main character. Think Prison Break, after Scoefield solves a particular problem, he is set up with a new challenge for the next season.
When I watch the trailer for Samba, I don’t know who the main character or protagonist is. I don’t know the antagonist. I don’t know what exactly is the conflict the protagonist has to deal with. It looked to me as more of a show of photography and acting skills over storytelling which to me misses the point - hence the disconnect. I don’t even know what Samba is. Is it a season or a person?
Take a look at another trailer for comparison (I wish I could be comparing this to another Cameroonian or African Series but like I confessed I am not quite familiar with the industry and I promise to get acquainted). For now let’s work with the trailer for Breaking Bad -Season One. It shows you Walter White (protagonist) who is a school teacher living a regular life then gets diagnosed with Cancer (conflict) which causes him to do things he never thought he could do.
The narration goes as such:- ‘Meet Walter White, A good man, doing bad things’
Now how simple and exciting is that. It makes you ask, why would a good man be doing bad things.
Lets go back to the narrative for Samba.
“This is an era where women rise above their boundaries, where fashion trends beyond reason, where the language of love is unfamiliar, where tears are hidden behind the smiles. An era of Samba, where the reputation of a perfect marriage cousin couple is on the line(I’m not quite sure about this but this what I think I heard). We are honestly robbed by disloyalty and deceit. A tale of love, pain and ambition.”
Without watching it, let me rewrite it:-
“Meet X, a woman fighting to break the boundaries set for women in a vicious male dominated fashion industry. She struggles to hold together her failing marriage, fighting at the same time to keep her business from being sabotaged. She is constantly presented with the tough choice between love and ambition”
Not that good, but way better. There is now a story. There is now something to watch. Something to use to create suspense.
I hope the actual thing is better than what the trailer portrays. I will be sure to get back to you with a review once I watch it.
Any- Ha!
Find links to both trailers in the comments section, compare and and tell us if you feel different.
If you are interested in writing scripts, you can e-mail us at meetpoise@gmail.com and we'll send you some material to get you started.
In 2017, Cameroon's film industry was gaining regional recognition—Samba's wins at Ghana's Golden Movie Awards were a marker of this visibility—yet remained under-documented and difficult to access for many viewers, even within the country. This piece captures a moment of genuine discovery and professional apprenticeship, as the writer openly acknowledges their unfamiliarity with the industry while building critical literacy.
The essay models a practical, pedagogical form of criticism: it doesn't dismiss Samba but diagnoses a specific failure in communication, using universal storytelling principles (protagonist, inciting incident, escalating conflict) to make the problem legible. It matters then as a contribution to serious discourse about craft in African cinema; it matters now as an example of how structural clarity in marketing shapes audience perception, and how critical generosity—the writer's openness to being wrong—strengthens an argument rather than weakening it.