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Ernest Napoleon, an emerging African actor, writer, and producer, was born in Moscow, Russia, to a Tanzanian father and a Russian mother.
His first acting role came at the age of three in a Christmas play (New Year's in the former Soviet Union).
When Ernest was five, his family relocated to Tanzania. As a child, he was highly energetic and ambitious, leading his mother to nickname his elaborate schemes “Napoleon plans,” after the French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte.
In Tanzania, Ernest's career spanned various fields: he worked as a TV presenter for EATV, East Africa’s largest TV station at the time; DJ-ed at Club Billicanas, a prominent African nightclub; and performed as a recording artist in the popular East African music genre Bongo Flava under the stage name MC Napo.
During his teenage years, Ernest moved to Los Angeles to study computer science and pursue a film career. There, he dedicated seven years to acting and writing classes. After assisting friends and colleagues with creating short films and TV pilots, he began producing his own feature film, Going Bongo.
In Going Bongo, Ernest stars as Dr. Berger, a doctor who secures a position at the prestigious Beverly Hills Medical Centre and aims to impress his boss. After attending a gala organized by his superiors, he inadvertently volunteers to work for a month at an under-resourced hospital in Africa. Leaving behind his fiancé and familiar life, he travels to Tanzania to fulfill his commitment.
Going Bongo is the first international film made by a Tanzanian and the first East African film to be accepted by iTunes. Ernest produced, co-wrote, and starred in the film. With several exciting projects underway, he is passionate about sharing knowledge with fellow African filmmakers and actors.
His own film, Kiumeni, set and filmed in Dar es Salaam, won two awards at the 2017 Zanzibar International Film Festival. This African-made comedy contrasts poverty and wealth through the story of a wealthy young man who falls deeply in love with a girl from a poor neighborhood. When tradition requires him to visit her family, he faces cultural shocks while trying to adapt to his new environment.
Currently, Ernest is managing multiple projects, including producing the UK/US film Let No Man Know. This true story follows Tom Molineaux, a former slave who rises from the brutal conditions of a southern American tobacco plantation to the aristocratic decadence of 19th-century London, competing for the English bare-knuckle boxing crown. The script is written by Ray Nicholas, with a stunt coordinator experienced in films such as Bourne Identity, Dark Knight, and Titanic.
