Well Done Ebele Okoye!

The Legacy of Rubiesby Ebele Okoye wins best Animation Film in the Africa Movie Academy Awards.

Interview with the winner of the best animation film category, The Legacy of Rubies !
Posted by African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) on Saturday, 26 September 2015

Adamu Waziri on Local Content and Ownership

In a recent uploaded video on Facebook, Adamu Waziri shares his views on local content production and audiences in Africa. Waziri discusses the need for African animators to strategise the production and distribution of local content. In his own words...

If we want to see more Black African cartoons we have to do the hard work that companies like Disney, Cartoon Network etc. have already done. Instead of only spending energy asking those companies to create more 'diverse' content we should spend MUCH more time & energy creating, owning and supporting the content we say we want to see ourselves. Let Disney and the rest do what they have to do and we have to step up our game. 

This is not some new amazing idea that no one has thought of. The hard part is, changing mindsets, putting in the hard work and systems to make it a reality. What do you think?

Stop Asking Disney To Do What We Should Be Doing Ourselves.
Posted by Bino and Fino on Tuesday, 11 August 2015

TriggerFish invests $3.5 Million looking for new African talent

As shared by South African Kevin Kreidemann

CAPE TOWN - After the international success of its first two feature films, Triggerfish Animation Studios is establishing The Triggerfish Story Lab with the support of The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and The Walt Disney Company. 

Triggerfish will be investing up to $3.5m over the next three years in The Story Lab, which aims to give Africa’s most talented storytellers and filmmakers the opportunity to develop their ideas alongside Triggerfish’s international network of mentors. Selected storytellers will potentially have their concepts developed into episodic TV content or an animated feature film for the global market.

Triggerfish is conducting a continent-wide search for storytellers. These storytellers will be carefully selected, based not only on the creative and commercial merits of their concept, but also on their track record. 

The entries will be evaluated by a high-profile panel of both local and international experts, including British director and co-founder of Aardman Peter Lord (Chicken Run, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists), Hollywood writer Jonathan Roberts (The Lion King) and script consultant Karl Iglesias (Writing For Emotional Impact), and a panel of development executives from The Walt Disney Company, as well as South African storyteller Gcina Mhlope, comedian David Kau and Triggerfish’s development team of Anthony Silverston, Wayne Thornley and Raffaella Delle Donne.

Shortlisted storytellers will take part in workshops with leading Hollywood script consultant Pilar Alessandra, author of The Coffee Break Screenwriter. 

The selected Story Lab participants will also receive two weeks of mentoring with key studio and television executives at Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, California.

“We are ready to bring a fresh voice to the world,” says Anthony Silverston, head of development at Triggerfish. “We believe there is extraordinary talent inAfrica and the Story Lab is the perfect way to partner with them.”

“We are excited to be supporting Triggerfish on this innovative project,” says Christine Service, senior vice president and country manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa. “We believe the Story Lab provides a unique opportunity to discover this continent’s next generation of storytellers.”

“The dti is committed to developing a pool of creative talent that can produce international quality animation production scripts,” says Nelly Molokoane from the dti’s Film and TV Incentives Unit, adding that the department is honoured to support projects that will contribute to job creation.

“The Story Lab will be a great catalyst for African creativity on the global stage,” says Triggerfish CEO Stuart Forrest. “We look forward to opening up the Triggerfish production platform and our networks to the continent’s top creative talent."

The development process can take a number of years. For each phase of development, Triggerfish will provide financial support, workspace, and expert guidance by internal and international consultants and mentors, as well as a route to market through top-tier relationships with Hollywood agency William Morris Endeavor. 

Animation has proven to be a successful medium for South African films to travel internationally, with Triggerfish’s films Adventures in Zambezia and Khumba being distributed in over 150 countries and dubbed into over 27 languages. 

Applications are welcome from all writing and creative disciplines, not just experienced film and TV screenwriters. Applicants must be over 21 and either Africancitizens or permanent residents. Entries must be in English. Entries close 31 August 2015.

Full guidelines and an online application form are available at www.triggerfishstudios.com.  

Watch and embed the promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qWjb0ksSqA. 

The Money Tree, Sierra Leone/ Australia

Hawanatu Bangura is an artist from Sierra Leone, living in Australia. Her short animated film was screened at the Australian African Film Festival in 2012, and the Legacy Film Festival in Brighton, UK.  

Adamu Waziri talks to SMART MONKEY TV

Animation director and producer Adamu Waziri  based in Abuja, Nigeria talks to SMART MONKEY TV about their new Bino and Fino episodes and projects that are on the way, including crowdfunding, merchandising, and the transnational audiences across the world.



You can check out his company website on EVCL

Sporedust TV - A platform for African Animation and Cartoons

Sporedust Media are the Nigerian studio responsible for animated short Chicken Core released online in 2012 but also responsible for the animation and cartooning platform SporeDust TV where you can watch a small selection of African animations and read about cartooning. Their early story was covered on Cartoonbrew and they have since added to their portfolio a platform for African content. Let's hope that they continue growing.

Pawit Raogo et la vielle menteuse - a Franco-Burkinabe Production

JPL Productions have recently announced the premiere of the Franco-Burkinabe animation Pawit Raogo et la vielle menteuse  by Jean Pierre Tardivel (animator and ex-professor from Goblins Animation School) and Burkinabe Andre Daniel Tapsoba. The coproduction between JPL, Pit Productions and Veenem Films is the result of a collaboration between two artists and was screened at Ouagadougou's 24th Edition of the Pan-African Film Festival FESPACO.

The film would be preceded with a short documentary screening on Animation in Burkina Faso by Patrick Barraud.

You can read more about this charming animation at filmsenbretagne

More information about animation in Burkina Faso can be found on the ABCA (Association Burkinabe du Cinema d'Animation)

AFRIKA FILM FESTIVAL: Exhibition on Central African Animation

This year's AFRIKA Film Festival in Leuven was an exceptional year for African animation. It saw the the screening of the original film of The Tales of Mboloko (1953) by the Belgian Roger Jamar, the very first Congolese stop-motion animation. Alongside this screening was a documentary 'Roger Jamar et les palabres de Mboloko: Pionnier du cinema d'animation en Afrique Centrale', that offered an insight into the man who made these films and the context within which these were viewed.

One was also able to attend a days worth of screenings of different animation shorts, including the works of Nigerian animator Ebele Okoye and South African artist Wendy Morris.


The exhibition will be held at the Universiteitsbibliotheek, KU Leuven between 27th March and the 26th April, and features the charming models from JM Kibushi's own films, Prince Loseno (2005) and Ngando (WIP).

You can see more photos of the opening night on the Facebook event album: AFRIKA_Exhibition_Facebook

Tribute to Moustapha Alassane in the words of Jean Michel Kibushi

The words that Congolese animation director Jean Michel Kibushi posted and circulated on social media and via email today are a poetic tribute to the great father of Sub-Saharan animation who died on the 17th March 2015.

Moustapha Alassane, un ami, un père… le cinéma d’animation africain en deuil.

C’est avec peine que je viens d’apprendre la nouvelle de la mort de Moustafa Alassane, le pionnier du cinéma d’animation africain et nigérien survenu le mardi 17 mars 2015 vers 18h00 au Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Yalgado Ouédraogo, Ouagadougou au Burkina Faso où il était soigné.

Moustapha était à la fois un ami et un parent. Je conserve le souvenir d’un homme si chaleureux et n’oubliera jamais les merveilleux moments passés en sa compagnie : ses éclats de rires, ses précieux conseils de vie, son humilité, sa modestie, ses tranches de vie passées aux côtés de Norman MacLaren et surtout son grand ami, Jean-Rouch, le griot africain dont la voix ponctue majestueusement la narration de ses deux films d’animation,La Mort de Ganji, 1966 et Samba le Grand, 1977. Deux œuvres qui magnifient les hauts faits des personnages mythiques de l’épopée mandingue où on relève tout particulièrement le courage, la bravoure, la loyauté, la défense du faible et de l’opprimé.

Moustapha nous laisse une œuvre satirique sur le pouvoir dans Bon voyage Sim, 1966.  Des régimes assis sur le tralala médiatique et le faste dispendieux : bouquets, champagne, et bavardage entre compères au sommet.

Merci à Monica Blanc Gomez de l’avoir accompagner pendant une longue période lors des nombreux hommages, rétrospectives et jusqu’à son dernier souffle à l’hôpital. Merci également à Maria Silvia Bazzoli et Christian Lelong pour le beau documentaireMoustapha Alassane, cinéaste du possible que nous avions découvert à Kinshasa au cours de la formation Afriqu’Anim’Action qui restitue merveilleusement la carrière de Moustapha. Ce fut un moment important de repère dans la carrière de nos jeunes réalisateurs africains de films d’animation.

Au moment où j’écris ces lignes, un long cortège funéraire composé des réalisateurs amis et connaissances est en route de Ouagadougou vers Niamey la capitale du Niger ou les funérailles nationales seront organisées.

Mes sincères condoléances à sa famille et à tous les réalisateurs africains.

J-M. KIBUSHI N.W.

Auteur – Réalisateur

Studio Malembe Maa

Recognised as a founding figure in the history of African animation by ASIFA as prize Laureate in 2009.

Call for Support: AFROGAMES an animated series from Burkina Faso

The pitch for an animated series developed in Burkina Faso, AFROGAMES is being launched as an Indiegogo project that aims to raise $18,000 dollars to develop the series. The first episode of the animation was developed with the aid of the Danish Centre for Culture and Development. The animation is described as:

An original animated series made in Burkina Faso, that shares tales of African society through the eyes of five children and their passion for African games.

Five children of different backgrounds team up through diverse games from African soil  and use them to solve problems. 

Please click on AFROGAMES to support this project. 

Tribute to Allan Mwaniki

It is with great sadness that I write this post to announce the death of the Kenyan artist and animator Allan Mwaniki. Allan was an talented individual whose work in animation as a independent filmmaker and teacher inspired many within the animation community in Kenya. He was known for his work on the UNESCO Africa Animated Project, with his and Thomas Mbalu's animation Samak (2006).



He went on to work on the famous Tinga Tinga animation series and later became an animation teacher going on to inspire and teach others. He also made other work in collaboration with others, such as Children of War (2013)



and his more humorous Jino Pevu Uhunye

 

His contributions also extended to aiding and assisting with research on animation in Kenya, through interviews with key players and disseminating animation to rural communities, Allan's efforts in this field were always positive and his good nature brought joy to many. These are some of the photos he sent me whilst doing fieldwork in a rural Maasai community with colleague and animator Kwame Nyongo.

Allan Mwaniki (left) and Kwame Nyongo (right)

I only hope that his memory lives on through the many people he inspired in his travels. You can read more about the man on the Facebook tribute page Allan Mwaniki

Animated Collage

The South African artist Jil Jarvis, finalist of the Golden Baobab Children's Illustrator award, not only makes beautiful collage for print but her animations also have a similar fun aesthetic. 












JILJARVIS from JilJarvis on Vimeo.

Illustration and Animation from Ghana

Gyimah Gariba's work featured in a recent post on OkayAfrica's article on 10 African Illustrators to know. This short video profiles Gariba's work and process. You can read all about his work on his blog at http://ggariba.blogspot.co.uk/ or see his most recent work at http://ggariba.tumblr.com/ 

KIRO'O Games - Cameroon and Games

The studio Kiro'o has been in operation since 2013, although the project Aurion has been in development since 2003. The studio consists of a team of 20 young Cameroonian artists, programmers, designers. The founders are Madiba Guillaume Olivier, based in Cameroon, Yakan Dominque Brand, based in Belgium, and Wouafo Nono Hugues, in France. 


Sponsored by the Ministry of Arts and Culture in Cameroon, the games studio Kiro'o has been developing a game that aims to present an 'African Fantasy' game Aurion an action role-player game that follows the Prince of Zama who is trying to regain his kingdom that has been usurped by his brother-in-law.

Zimbabwe Animated!

As posted on Facebook today by Carl Joshua Ncube: 

Zimbabwe Animated has embarked on an extremely ambitious project of doing 5 music videos for Zimbabwean artists as a process of teaching animation to young new talent in Zimbabwe. This project is assisted in part by the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe with their partners the European Union. Please follow the progress of the animation projects as the PRODUCER DIRECTORS Carl Joshua Tinodavanhu Ncube, Rufaro Rutherford Dhliwayo and Henry Oliver Hakulandaba) of the 5 projects will post everything used or done to make the projects a success. The recipients of the animated videos are Tehn Diamond, Hope Masike, Farhaan Kazz Khan, Chikwata.263 and Ammara Brown follow the progress of the projects on www.zimbabweanimated.org

Looking forward to seeing the results... 

In the meantime you can watch some examples of Zims animations here.

The NEST in Kenya

Visual arts, film, music, photography, fashion... these are some of the aspects that the artists at The NEST in Nairobi, Kenya are exploring.

What is the NEST?

The NEST is a multidisciplinary collaborative of ten Kenyans, working collectively since 2012 with the aim of exploring our troubling modern identities, re-imagining our pasts and inhabiting mythical African futures.

Included in their portfolio of work one can find
'Stories of Our Lives', 'The Old Order of Things' and recently 'To Catch a Dream'

Okoye's The Legacy of the Rubies

The Nigerian animator Ebele Okoye has just released the trailer for her twenty-five minute 2D animation - The Legacy of the Rubies. The synopsis as described on Okoye's website describes the story of...

Mfalme is a young forest boy whose life suddenly turns upside down as he is kidnapped and brought to a strange kingdom with the claim that he is the blood son of the dying king Obankos

You can see all of Okoye's contributions to African Animation at http://ebeleokoye.com/ or http://www.shrinkfish.eu/

Online Africa Political Cartoons

A fantastic resource on African Cartoons - this website collects a range of African political cartoons presented as in an Encyclopedia on the subject. 

Tejumola Olaniyan's  http://africacartoons.com/ also includes blog posts, maps, links to other resources, and an index of cartoonists. 

Animation Festivals in Morocco

As I currently work away on a chapter for a book on Arab animation, my research into Moroccan animation has come up with some exciting examples... for those interested in getting a flavour of animation from Morocco, and a wider international lineup of artists have a look at the festivals FICAM in Meknes and Casanim in Casablanca.

Ghana's Children's Animated Series Anokye

The animated series Anokye: The Truth of Destiny presents the story of ' the adventures of the young magician Anokye and his best friend Prince Osei as they battle to free the people from the evil King and save the sacred forest' it is currently in production in Ghana. Producer Akua Ofosuhene has launched a kickstarter project that details the series can can be found here Anokye