As a keen follower of The Nest Collective and Jepchumba and her website AfricanDigitalArts, this video is worth a watch from the BOZAR: Connects Africa events.
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Sunday, March 16, 2014
AfricandigitalArt does TED Talks
African Digital Art founder Jepchumba gives a great account of the start of the website AfricaDigitalArt at TEDtalks
The site includes a collection of members interested in African Digital Art, including a group on African Animation.
Monday, August 26, 2013
kenyan animation blog...
For current information on the animation scene in Kenya and a great contribution to the blogosphere
kenyanimators makes for a welcome addition to online information about anything animation in Kenya...
Check out the great post dated 29 July 2013, on this years National Film Conference and Exhibition in Nairobi
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Plugged Digital Expo in Kenya
Kenya's PLUGGED DIGITAL EXPO will be showcasing digital technologies and related industries for the East African region.
It runs on the 13th - 14th July in the Sarit Centre, Nairobi
It will include exhibitors in zones
For more info go to:
http://www.pluggedexpo.com/
It runs on the 13th - 14th July in the Sarit Centre, Nairobi
It will include exhibitors in zones
The conference also includes a focus on digital content distribution for television, film and animation - which should be of particular interest to practising animators/ producers in this field.
- Mobile Zone - mobile phones, tablets, accessories, portable devices
- Digi Zone - touch screens, Computers, Laptops, displays, print solutions, routers, automated office solutions, communication technology.
- Mobile apps Pit - mobile apps, mobile business solutions, payment solutions and mobile games.
- Apps Bar - sample shots of information on must-have apps for mobile devices.
- Simulator Zone – flight simulators, Visual Effects, Driving simulators
- Studio Grid - media, broadcast, 3D, HD, Programming, Cable, Triple play, satellite, streaming, set top boxes, content creators and digital distribution technology.
- Innovator's Pavilion – meet Kenya's innovators who will shape and determine Kenya's future in the digital and technology space.
- Cloud 9 - Dedicated to cloud based solutions, tools and tutorials for businesses
For more info go to:
http://www.pluggedexpo.com/
Monday, August 17, 2009
Kenyan Animation: A3 Genesis, the dawn of a new era?
The recent event at the British Council, organised by the Association of Animation Artistes Kenya (A3) was a resounding success with a full house attendance. The speakers including Dumi, from Anamazing Workshop, South Africa, Claudia Lloyd from Tiger Aspect Studios, UK/Kenya and the Know Zone Team, all provided a great flavour of current commercial and non-profit productions that are running in Kenya, and South Africa. The event was even attended by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication, Dr. Bitange Ndemo, a key player in mobilising and creating an environment conducive to helping the industry emerge.
The morning program of talks provided a space for Q&As with the attendees, which was at times "animated" - each speaker spoke of the commercial/ financial difficulties of launching animated series for an African audience, or as in the case of Tinga Tinga Tales, an international one. Amongst the topics of discussion were the role of a producer in securing funds. How funding/ investment is divided up amongst different contenders, distributors, merchandising, screening rights etc. The South African guest, spoke about the current incentives that exist in SA that provide a space to begin to look at an emergent industry. This proved to be an ideal spring board to look at the role of government bodies in facilitating and encouraging this sector to grow. Other speakers included the software company, ToonBoom representative, who presented in interesting overview of the possibilities of tapping into the global market. He also spoke of economic incentives in licensing of this software, to encourage use of legal copies, rather than pirated software - these included an encouraging 50 to 60% discount on the retail price, with room to negotiate.
The public were largely very receptive to all speakers. Some of the issues raised included: the importance of the dissemination of information from official bodies to the general public in a transparent and effective manner, the importance for educational institutions to recognise the merits of this field and to provide suitable in depth training, the artistic and technical skills that are required, what are the benefits of joining the association, the need for critical mass and collaboration.
The afternoon session included different workshops in Adobe After Effects, a master class by a Digital Matte Painter from Animal Logic/ Weta Digital, and a collection of screenings from local and other African animators, in the main foyer.
The event was bubbling with excitement and seemed largely positive, with current news of broadband reaching the general public, in the next couple of months, the possibilities seem endless... of course this enthusiasm could not help but be eclipsed but the fact that today, in Nairobi, like most days in the week, there is no power.
The power rationing is naturally having a detrimental effect on peoples ability to work and is debilitating....
For more info: you can go to Kenyan Animation
or the Official webpage for the association at www.animationkenya.com- this link has since gone dead and will redirect to a page that is archived on the Webarchive Association of Animation Artistes
Friday, June 19, 2009
SCOLMA Annual Conference: Africa and the Moving Image: the Role of Libraries and Archives
The recent conference held at Newnham College, Cambridge, was a veritable attempt to begin to address the difficulties facing the future of African film, or rather specifically more so film made by African's for an African audience and its urgent need of suitable archives.
The lineup of guest speakers included:
Dr Guido Convents: Current Issues in African Moving Image and its Preservation
Mr Keith Shiri: African Film and Documentary: The Contemporary Scene
Prf. Vivian Bickford Smith : Film as Evidence, Film as istory and Film in History
Dr Emma Hunter: African History on Screen and in the Classroom: Moving Images in the teaching of African History
Dr Emma Sandon: Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire. A 3-year AHRC funded project
Susanne Hammacher: Looking back - Looking Forward: Tasks ad Challenges of an Archival Ethnographic Film Collection and the Digital Future.
------------------
The opening paper by Guido Convents presented an overview of some of the problems facing the archival of African film within the local context, with a focus on the DRC. This was supplemented by a screening of documentary made by a young Congolese filmmaker about the current state of an archival unit in Kinshasa.
The presentation and documentary highlighted Convents; key arguement, that whilst there are archives of colonial film (for a European audience and also propagandist or educational film for local African audiences), there is hardly any interest in archiving film that was produced after colonialism.
He develops this further by later proposing that the archive within an African context could also include key films that have influenced early African filmakers, such as European Neorealistic films screened in the 50's, the Western film, etc.
+(Hugo+Friedhofer)+-+CD+Front+Cover.jpg)
Convents asks whether these films should be considered when thinking of the purpose of the archive within a local context, alongside the local post-colonial productions? That is to say, an understanding of the images that early African filmakers were exposed to, in some way provides an understanding of their own approach to filmmaking, and in turn their cultural influences that pervade all aspects of life. When talking of the diverse cultural influences, Convents gives as an example Papa Wemba's musical influences from the rumba, and his early exposure to the music of Luis Mariano.
Convents provided an exhaustive list of key organisations that have been involved in the archival of African film, FIAF, FIAT, URTNA, UNESCO to mention a few. However the successes of these organisations in prioritising archiving, would seem is dependant on finance and access to technologies that allow for the digital storage of these films, as well as sourcing the films themselves.
Convents' examples from the DRC point at two key problems with the current state of play in archiving African film: firstly the need of local archives for the local, and secondly the lack of interest by Western archives in post-colonial film, both as historical evidence and as a cultural narrative.
------------------
Keith Shiri, director of London's African film festival, "Africa at the Pictures", proceeded Convents with a brief personal account of his experience of African film, and a sample screening of the variety of work emerging on the continent ranging from Nollywood to higher production value "Relentless" see below:
You can read more about this film by Andy Amadi Okoroafor at this blog:
Dodge and Burn
or go directly to the films official website:
clamfilms
Keith Shiri's presented his current project; the setting up of a UK based distribution company for African film which will be officially launching towards the end of the year. He believes that this will act as a platform to ensure that African filmmakers interests are best served and to promote African film in the UK.
Although the title of the scheduled talk was "African Film and Documentary : The Contemporary Scene", Mr Shiri's talked veered away from the topic, and focused more on the workings of the distribution company. It did not deliver the expected overview or flavour of contemporary African film or documentary, and was dissapointing to a degree.
The setting up of an official distribution company was met with support as it is clear that African filmmakers face an increasingly difficult task in disseminating their films to larger audiences. However there was little further discussion on what the greater implications of distribution:
such as creating audiences,
where they intend to screen the films,
what selection criteria they use for programming,
what are the problems African filmmakers face,
what are the current emergent technologies and how they are impacting on distribution, such as DVD or DV?
Although Mr Shiri evidently carries a knowledge of the contemporary landscape of African film, he was not clear in identifying some of these key issues.
------------------
Prof. Vivien Birkette-Smith's paper on film as historical evidence, and film as history raised some interesting salient observations about the uses of the moving image by the historian. Here he identifies three key ways that historians engage with film; film as evidence, film in history, film as history.
The questions that were raised here presented the difficulties that historians face when turning to the moving image as history, such as the possibility of error, oversimplification, a lack of context. He also provides the counter position in defense of film stating that it can draw attention to 'uncomfortable truths' and reveal a sense of history.
Birkette-Smith provides ample sources of literature in this field, and developed his arguement thoroughly, presenting a strong case for the possibility of seeing the uses of different types of film as history in history.
The lineup of guest speakers included:
Dr Guido Convents: Current Issues in African Moving Image and its Preservation
Mr Keith Shiri: African Film and Documentary: The Contemporary Scene
Prf. Vivian Bickford Smith : Film as Evidence, Film as istory and Film in History
Dr Emma Hunter: African History on Screen and in the Classroom: Moving Images in the teaching of African History
Dr Emma Sandon: Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire. A 3-year AHRC funded project
Susanne Hammacher: Looking back - Looking Forward: Tasks ad Challenges of an Archival Ethnographic Film Collection and the Digital Future.
------------------
The opening paper by Guido Convents presented an overview of some of the problems facing the archival of African film within the local context, with a focus on the DRC. This was supplemented by a screening of documentary made by a young Congolese filmmaker about the current state of an archival unit in Kinshasa.
The presentation and documentary highlighted Convents; key arguement, that whilst there are archives of colonial film (for a European audience and also propagandist or educational film for local African audiences), there is hardly any interest in archiving film that was produced after colonialism.
He develops this further by later proposing that the archive within an African context could also include key films that have influenced early African filmakers, such as European Neorealistic films screened in the 50's, the Western film, etc.
+(Hugo+Friedhofer)+-+CD+Front+Cover.jpg)
Convents asks whether these films should be considered when thinking of the purpose of the archive within a local context, alongside the local post-colonial productions? That is to say, an understanding of the images that early African filmakers were exposed to, in some way provides an understanding of their own approach to filmmaking, and in turn their cultural influences that pervade all aspects of life. When talking of the diverse cultural influences, Convents gives as an example Papa Wemba's musical influences from the rumba, and his early exposure to the music of Luis Mariano.
Convents provided an exhaustive list of key organisations that have been involved in the archival of African film, FIAF, FIAT, URTNA, UNESCO to mention a few. However the successes of these organisations in prioritising archiving, would seem is dependant on finance and access to technologies that allow for the digital storage of these films, as well as sourcing the films themselves.
Convents' examples from the DRC point at two key problems with the current state of play in archiving African film: firstly the need of local archives for the local, and secondly the lack of interest by Western archives in post-colonial film, both as historical evidence and as a cultural narrative.
------------------
Keith Shiri, director of London's African film festival, "Africa at the Pictures", proceeded Convents with a brief personal account of his experience of African film, and a sample screening of the variety of work emerging on the continent ranging from Nollywood to higher production value "Relentless" see below:
RELENTLESS from Fortproject on Vimeo.
You can read more about this film by Andy Amadi Okoroafor at this blog:
Dodge and Burn
or go directly to the films official website:
clamfilms
Keith Shiri's presented his current project; the setting up of a UK based distribution company for African film which will be officially launching towards the end of the year. He believes that this will act as a platform to ensure that African filmmakers interests are best served and to promote African film in the UK.
Although the title of the scheduled talk was "African Film and Documentary : The Contemporary Scene", Mr Shiri's talked veered away from the topic, and focused more on the workings of the distribution company. It did not deliver the expected overview or flavour of contemporary African film or documentary, and was dissapointing to a degree.
The setting up of an official distribution company was met with support as it is clear that African filmmakers face an increasingly difficult task in disseminating their films to larger audiences. However there was little further discussion on what the greater implications of distribution:
such as creating audiences,
where they intend to screen the films,
what selection criteria they use for programming,
what are the problems African filmmakers face,
what are the current emergent technologies and how they are impacting on distribution, such as DVD or DV?
Although Mr Shiri evidently carries a knowledge of the contemporary landscape of African film, he was not clear in identifying some of these key issues.
------------------
Prof. Vivien Birkette-Smith's paper on film as historical evidence, and film as history raised some interesting salient observations about the uses of the moving image by the historian. Here he identifies three key ways that historians engage with film; film as evidence, film in history, film as history.
The questions that were raised here presented the difficulties that historians face when turning to the moving image as history, such as the possibility of error, oversimplification, a lack of context. He also provides the counter position in defense of film stating that it can draw attention to 'uncomfortable truths' and reveal a sense of history.
Birkette-Smith provides ample sources of literature in this field, and developed his arguement thoroughly, presenting a strong case for the possibility of seeing the uses of different types of film as history in history.
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