"Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League"
Richard Brown's Passenger and Fremantle announced that "Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League" will make its world premiere in competition at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2025, as part of the Primetime lineup.
Produced and distributed by Fremantle, "Origin" documents the creation of the NBA's first collaboration to operate a league outside North America, a professional basketball league in partnership with FIBA, featuring the 12 top club teams from across Africa, with the season culminating in a playoff tournament among the top eight.
Executive produced, written and co-directed by Richard Brown ("True Detective"), with executive producers including Masai Ujiri, Akin Omotoso (Rise) and Fisher Stevens (Beckham) as well as co-director Tebogo Malope, the documentary series follows the BAL's inaugural season and playoffs while exploring the league's potential to transform both large-scale sporting and socio-economic opportunities across the continent.
"The BAL is the culmination of decades of work by the NBA and FIBA to grow basketball in Africa and provide aspiring African players with a predictable pathway to learn the game and maximize their potential,” said Amadou Gallo Fall, President of the Basketball Africa League. "We are grateful to Richard Brown, Passenger, Fremantle and everyone involved in documenting the BAL’s historic inaugural season and the impact that the league is having on lives, communities and economies across the continent.”
UNIFYING FORCE
The BAL emerges at a time when African talent is reshaping the NBA landscape. The BAL showcases the extraordinary diversity of Africa, bringing together teams from vastly different nations including Angola, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco. The series captures how basketball serves as a unifying force across the continent's rich tapestry of cultures, languages, and traditions, creating connections between communities that span from North Africa's Mediterranean shores to sub-Saharan nations.
"As filmmakers, we were given privileged access to chronicle not only the Basketball Africa League itself, but the personal journeys of the visionaries and players and other participants bringing it to life," said Richard Brown, co-director, writer, and executive producer. "From Dakar to Kigali and Lagos to Cairo, each story reinforced that the BAL transcends basketball—it embodies the aspirations of a dynamic generation of young Africans and the limitless potential of an entire continent. Premiering this series at TIFF feels especially fitting given Masai Ujiri's historic leadership with the Toronto Raptors."
The documentary features exclusive interviews and appearances with key figures - some of whom are anticipated to present the film in Toronto - including: President Barack Obama, a strategic partner of NBA Africa; Masai Ujiri, Giants of Africa co-founder, former Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman & President, and series executive producer; Amadou Gallo Fall, BAL President and advocate for African basketball development; J. Cole, Grammy-winning artist and player for The Rwanda Patriots in the BAL’s inaugural season; Stephen Curry, four-time NBA champion Pascal Siakam, NBA champion from Cameroon Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner.
Masai Ujiri said: “'Origin' is more than a basketball story — it’s a story of belief, resilience, and the power of sport to drive transformation across a continent. The Basketball Africa League was born from a vision to elevate African talent and give it the global stage it deserves. I’m honored to be part of this series and proud to share this journey with the world — and it means even more for it to premiere in Toronto, a city I love deeply and that has always championed the global game.”