FUPiTOONS from Africa to the WORLD!

FUPiTOONS from Africa to the WORLD!

FUPiTOONS from Africa to the WORLD!

FUPiTOONS FESTiVAL 2019 (FUPiTOONSis taking African animation to the world. Africa is the territory of honour at Annecy 2020 and FUPiTOONS will be part of the official program. This year’s special call for content delivered a record harvest of 721 short films.

The African Animation Network (AAN) launched FUPiTOONS at The Zone in Rosebank in 2017. It was the first animation short film festivalMade in Africa for Kids“. Since its inception the festival has traveled the length and breadth of the continent, from festivals to pop culture events to schools

20 films have been selected for FUPiTOONS 2019. The festival premieres at DISCOP Johannesburg next week, where the jury will have the unenviable task of deciding which of the 20 shorts will win in the various categories.

FUPiTOONS FESTiVAL 2019 OFFICIAL SELECTION

The jury for FUPiTOONS 2019 comprises 3 of Africa’s shining stars in animation. Mounia Aram, born in Morocco but now living in France, is this year’s Head Judge. She recently launched the production and distribution start-up Mounia Aram Company to focus on distribution of African and Middle Eastern animated content. With over a decade’s worth of experience and passion for bringing content to screens across the globe, her focus has now shifted to Africa where she has also taken up a role at AAN as the Head of Content Acquisitions & Channel Distribution.

MOUNIA ARAM

Diana Maria Rosu is the founder and Artistic Director of the Accra Animation Film Festival (AAFFia). AAFFia debuted in 2019 and has already contributed greatly to the growth and exposure of the West African animation industry. Born in Romania, Diana completed her studies in Europe, before moving to Ghana, bringing a wealth of experience having worked on a plethora of European festivals.

DIANA ROSU

Cameroonian-Burkinabe, Doh D. Daiga, is a line producer, writer, cartoonist, animator, graphic artist, webmaster, trainer and teacher. He has a BSc in Film and TV Production with associates in Illustration and Animation. Doh is the Owner and Chief Creative Officer of Kinetic Arts and Human Technologies International (Kahti) and is an active member of the Burkinabè Association de Cinema Animation (ABCA), Kino Cabaret Ouaga and Co-Founder of the Creative Cultural Center.

DOH D DAIGA

FUPiTOONS, “fupi” meaning “short” in kiSwahili, has always dug deep into the African soil from its content to its jury. The aim is to bring content to the children of the continent that depicts characters they can identify with. Bringing recognition to creatives and their projects.

Annecy International Animated Film Festival & Market/MIFA is one of, if not the biggest, animation film festival in the world. Creatives from all over the world will descend on the festival and market in its 60th year of existence. This a great opportunity for FUPiTOONS, and the African animation industry, to attract this global audience’s attention. While showing them what the continent is capable of. It’s an advertisement showing the world, Africa is open for business.

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FUPiTOONS/Annecy 2020 Special Call!

FUPiTOONS/Annecy 2020 Special Call!

FUPiTOONS FESTiVAL is travelling to Annecy 2020! In recognition of this honour the partners are announcing a FUPiTOONS/Annecy 2020 Special Call, the entry deadline is 6 October 2019.

FUPiTOONS/Annecy 2020 Special Call

Please submit your projects HERE using the Submission Waiver Code: FUPIANNECY2020 (NB: this is only for African filmmakers).

Africa is the territory of honour at Annecy 2020 and is parallel to the Institut FrançaisAfrica 2020 Creative Season. This is an amazing opportunity to showcase the stories Africa has.

The regular deadline for submissions to FUPiTOONS 2019 ended on 22 September and according to Comfort Arthur, FUPiTOONS FESTiVAL Director; “We’ve already received an astonishing 700 submissions (a 180% increase year-on-year) but, with the festival travelling to Annecy 2020, we want to ensure that we showcase the widest diversity and highest quality of African animated content possible.  This left us with no alternative but to launch the FUPiTOONS/Annecy 2020 Special Call!

Marcel Jean, Annecy Festival’s Artistic Director added; “FUPiTOONS will be part of an opportunity for festival-goers at Annecy to discover a still far too little known cinematography. Partnering with AAN and FUPiTOONS gives the fledgling festival an opportunity to build broader networks with creators and producers across Africa and develop larger audiences for African produced content across the continent.  In return, Annecy has an exciting addition to the 2020 festival program!

Annecy, or more specifically its marketMIFA– has “not waited to work with Africa”, says Veronique Encrenaz Head of MIFA, “We had a focus on Africa in 2015. It brought the MIFA pitching competition to Africa. This led to us launching Animation du Monde and a series of preliminary rounds across 5 regions on the continent. Which has brought African talent to pitch on a global stage ever since. We want to show the world what we have seen coming from the continent.”

In 2017 the African Animation Network (AAN) launched FUPiTOONS, an animation short film festivalMade in Africa for Kids”. It takes short films from various creators across the continent and combines them to fit a feature length film runtime. The festival debuts alongside DISCOP Johannesburg each year before embarking on a continent-wide tour in the succeeding calendar year.  The festival has travelled across Africa (to 9 events in 2018 & +11 events in 2019) and featured during an African showcase at the 2018 Animage Festival in Brazil.

The pressure is on. With only a few weeks left before FUPiTOONS 2019 premieres at this year’s DISCOP Johannesburg, there isn’t much time left to get your project seen by Comfort Arthur, one of Africa’s most celebrated animation directors, and her team of judges. “It is my hope to use FUPiTOONS as a way to inspire those who see it. The great thing about making it a festival for children is that it reaches kids and their adults.” Comfort explained, “It’s about celebrating Africa in all its glory!

“We are excited about FUPiTOONS being part of the official Annecy 2020 program.” says Nick Wilson, AAN’s Head of Projects & Content; “The quality of the entries have improved year-on-year. And, we see it as an opportunity to bring attention to Africa’s stories, and AAN as a potential partner to bring them to life.”

The opportunity to be part of Annecy’s Africa 2020 focus is HERE! (The entry deadline is 6 October 2019. Please use the Submission Waiver Code: FUPIANNECY2020, NB: this is only for African filmmakers).

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Growing African animation with Mounia Aram Company

Growing African animation with Mounia Aram Company

Growing African animation with Mounia Aram Company

Building towards a sustainable animation industry in Africa requires innovation. The African Animation Network has had to do a lot of that since its inception. It started with being a pro-profit, talent-driven, social enterprise, and included setting up a structure across the continent. Our team members can be found in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya.

MOUNIA ARAM COMPANY

We are excited to partner with Mounia Aram Company and welcome Mounia Aram to the team as Head of Content Acquisitions & Channel Distribution. Mounia doesn’t only bring the Moroccan flavour with her but over 16 years worth of experience in the animation industry. She started her career in anime working for ShoPro Entertainment. She’s worked for North American and European animation industries

MOUNIA ARAM

Of all the industries she’s encountered, Africa left a gaping hole. This spurred her on to create the Mounia Aram Company. Her mission is to bring the world’s attention to the diversity of African stories in animation

Mounia is bringing her passion and experience to AAN. We share a mission and vision for the African industry. Especially as audiences are making their hunger for unique and diverse stories known. The continent has an important role to play in satisfying people’s thirst for story.

Although she is based in ParisMounia’s heart is firmly planted in Africa. As a child of the continent she understands that for many millennia, African stories carry the DNA of villages, tribes,and civilisations. This makes her an invaluable member to the AAN team.

“Working in a developing animation industry in a continent that is also developing, has many challenges. Mounia’s insights, born from her experience and passion, are key to the kind of innovation required to create a sustainable industry.” said Nick Wilson Head of Projects, AAN.

Mounia explains, ” In the animation industry representations of diversity are rare, especially when it comes to African characters and stories. The sector lacks animated contents. It is particularly surprising as the continent is so wide and rich in stories and talented people. My goal with Mounia Aram Company and my appointment at AAN is to bring the best animated content from Africa to the international market, by spreading the beautiful and inspiring African stories to the kids outside Africa. Working with AAN will provide the best exposure to African animation and achieve part of my goal”.

We at AAN have seen how important it is for children from Africa to see themselves represented in the cartoons they watch. The art form not only has the ability for kids to believe in themselves but reach out to the world with their imaginations. Stories also have the ability to change people’s perception about each other.

Mounia shares how animation influenced her, “I was born in CasablancaMorocco, and I grew-up in France. As a kid, I always had a passion for cartoons, video games and African cultures and languages. After Arabic languages and civilization studies, I had the opportunity to join ShoPro Entertainment, a company specializing in Japanese animation based in San Francisco. I had found my dream job and never left the industry”.

The future of the African animation industry is exciting. From the creatives who are self taught to AAN team members who are passionate about making it into the best it can be.

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Animation du Monde 2020 NAICCON’s Winning Crop!

Animation du Monde 2020 NAICCON’s Winning Crop!

Animation du Monde 2020 NAICCON’s Winning Crop!

ANNECY FESTIVAL ANIMATION DU MONDE

Nairobi Comic Con hosted Animation du Monde for the second year. East Africa produced a bumper crop of animation talent for penultimate Animation du Monde 2020 preliminary round in Sub-Saharan Africa. Like always, only 3 could be chosen to go through to the Animation du Monde 2020 African Continental Final taking place at DISCOP Johannesburg.

  • Agent 254 by Lydia Mugure (Kenya)
  • Rosa’s Diary  by Ndanusa Danjuma Judah (Nigeria)
  • The Fam by Kabelo Maaka (South Africa)

The Fam had been entered into a previous edition of Animation du Monde. Like so many other projects, Kabelo did not make it through to the continental final. Unlike many others, Kabelo took the feedback the judges gave her. She improved her pitch to win the day at NAICCON 2019

One of the core missions of Animation du Monde is to teach creatives that it’s not the winning that matters but the journey. Failure is part of the creative process. Because, as an individual, it is important to stand up and try again

The final Sub Saharan preliminary round of Animation du Monde 2020 is taking place at Lagos Comic Con. Which is an opportunity to enter for the first time or your second, third, or even umpteenth time. The competition regulations can be viewed HERE.

Animation du Monde 2020 ends Sub-Saharan run @ Lagos Comic Con!

As a developing animation industry, Africa and its creatives have to take every opportunity to learn. We might have unique stories to tell. But, we still have to develop our creative sensibilities. Something that the judges that sit on the Animation du Monde panels have helped with

If you have a project that you would like to enter, please click HERE. Who knows, you might represent Africa at the Animation du Monde 2020 Grand Finale in Annecy!

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Animation du Monde 2020 ends Sub-Saharan run at Lagos Comic Con!

Animation du Monde 2020 ends Sub-Saharan run at Lagos Comic Con!

Animation du Monde 2020 ends Sub-Saharan run at Lagos Comic Con!

ANNECY FESTIVAL ANIMATION DU MONDE

The Sub-Saharan circuit of Animation du Monde 2020 preliminary rounds comes to an end in Nigeria at Lagos Comic Convention (LCC) from 19 – 21 September 2019. With the penultimate leg having taken place over this past weekend at Nairobi Comic Con (NAICCON).

Animation du Monde 2020 ends Sub-Saharan run@ Lagos Comic Con!

Entries for LCC are currently open, end 5 September 2019.

Once the LCC prelim is concluded, the next stop for the prestigious pitching competition is the Continental Finals at DISCOP Johannesburg in November 2019, where the 15 finalists (3 from each of the 5 regional prelims) will compete for the honour of being 1 of the 2 winners selected to represent the continent and compete against their global counterparts at Annecy Int. Animated Film Fest. & Market/MIFA (Annecy/MIFA) in 2020.  On the back of the recent news that Africa will be honoured at Annecy/MIFA 2020 as part of the Africa 2020 Creative Season, this represents arguably the biggest opportunity for African creators to showcase their talent and content on a global stage.

Nigeria is home to the largest comic book market in Africa. The creative industries have been able to leverage the largest population on the continent and the second largest film industry in the world by volume, Nollywood, to build this success. Although animation is fairly new to the region, an event like LCC has shown that there is a hunger for content from the continent. As a sister industry to animation, comics have been able to lay a solid foundation for creatives to work from.

As one of the oldest comic cons in Africa, LCC is a great platform for creators to showcase their work. Lagos is also home to some of the best talent West Africa has to offer. The maiden preliminary round of Animation du Monde hosted at LCC 2018, brought some of the best animation talent to the fore. Dami Solesi, one of the Continental Winners of the competition, came through the LCC 2018 prelim to pitch her idea at Annecy/MIFA 2019.

Dami had the following to say about her experience pitching against competitors from around the world at the Animation du Monde finals in France; “Going through the Annecy/MIFA pitches has opened my eyes to a new world of content production and how I can bring my ideas to life. From the onset at the LCC, my project was constantly being refined at each stage. At DISCOP Johannesburg, meeting with each of the experts and the infallible contribution that each expert made towards the project. They even provided opportunities beyond the competition and I’m still in communication with many of them as regards updates on my project. I believe every single creative who has an idea should definitely apply for this because going through the process, whether you win or not your project would be refined. And I believe that those lessons are invaluable to any creative as of right now!

DAMI SOLESI ANIMATION DU MONDE CONTINENTAL WINNER 2018

The budding animation industry in Nigeria is creating room for itself in its market of entertainment. It is going up against and working in tandem with the second largest film industry in the world by volume, Nollywood. Which is remarkable in an industry where most of the creatives are self-taught. And, have borrowed many processes from its sister industry, the Nigerian comic book sector

One of the entrepreneurs in the region is Mbuotidem Johnson, owner of Basement Studios, founder of Animation Nigeria and Animation du Monde participant at Annecy/MIFA 2018. He has this to say about his experience in the competition; “Whenever I am asked to talk about my experience at Annecy, I say it is ’Disneyland for filmmakers’. I had dreamed of going to Annecy for as long as I can remember, and I am glad this dream became a reality in 2018. My whole perspective of the animation industry changed. We had just completed the pilot episode of one of our projects (Adefellas) and were in need of funds to complete it. So I packed my bags and headed to DISCOP Abidjan 2017 in search of funding and distribution opportunities. While networking and exchanging ideas with other animation studios I met Ingrid Agbo, a Togolese film-maker with Nebularts in Paris. Ingrid was one of the top 9 semi-finalists for the Animation du Monde pitches at DISCOP Abidjan. She saw some of our work and decided Basement Animation would create a new pilot episode for her show L’Arbre à Palimpseste. We successfully completed the new pilot episode for Nebularts in time for DISCOP Johannesburg 2017. L’arbre à Palimpseste would eventually be one of 2 projects selected and received automatic entry into the Animation du Monde global program at Annecy 2018 where it won an historic presale from Gulli Africa!  What I appreciate the most about this sharing of experiences is that you get to listen to people who have experienced the same challenges that you are going through, and learn how they overcame these challenges. If you are thinking globally and want to be a part of the big move of animation in Africa, Annecy is the place to be!

MBUOTIDEM JOHNSON ANIMATION SUPERVISOR ON ANIMATION DU MONDE 2018 WINNING PITCH

As Africa rises and many look to the continent’s growth. Animation has a key role to play in the lives of audiences. Animation du Monde is the one platform that offers Africans the opportunity to showcase their talent on a global stage. It is also a space for creatives to learn, grow, and improve their projects to meet the needs of the market.

Don’t let this final opportunity at LCC pass you by, enter HERE!

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