The Ladima Foundation has announced a partnership with Culture and Development East Africa (CDEA) and the Kwetu International Animation Film Festival (KIAFF) designed to bring training, development and professional opportunities to women in animation across East Africa. The Foundation has recently registered as a not-for-profit organization in Tanzania and this initial training is the start of a number of other East Africa initiatives that will roll out in 2022 with CDEA and KIAFF amongst other partners.
This partnership will commence with animation training for women in Dar es Salaam in early 2022, conducted by internationally recognized animator Comfort Arthur (Black Barbie), who previously facilitated a similar animation training for the Ladima Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria in January 2020 in cooperation with the African Animation Network. The on-site training will be followed by an Incubator and Accelerate Mentorship program that will ensure that the participants are able to put their skills to work in the animation sector.
The recently launched Kwetu International Animation Film Festival had its inaugural event. this past April and will provide a key opportunity for the successful trainees to showcase their work. KIAFF is an East Africa-based festival that provides a platform to showcase and promote regional and international animation, and that brings together animators, animation writers, innovators and distributors. KIAFF’s regional and innovative approach to promoting and supporting animation makes it an important partner in this project.
“This partnership sets a very important base for East African animation filmmakers, particularly women in that it will provide an opportunity for women in animation to learn animation skills and apply those skills in a professional environment through the incubate and accelerate process,” said Daniel Nyalusi, KIAFF founder & director. “As a festival we will be excited to showcase the work of more women animators and we hope this training will be part of igniting the animation sector in East Africa.”
Founded in 2011, CDEA is now a creative think tank based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that facilitates multi-stakeholders to use culture as a resource to promote creativity and innovation supported by technology to solve the numerous social, political and economic challenges faced in East Africa. The creative think tank is also a hub where science meets art, and art meets other disciplines to innovate “out-of-the-box” solutions for this and the coming generation. CDEA’s work is aligned to the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity Cultural Expressions and the African Union Plan of Action for the Cultural and Creative Industries.
Ayeta Anne Wangusa, Executive Director of CDEA, commented, “We are excited about this partnership because it reinforces our commitment to train filmmakers in East Africa. In 2017, we launched CDEA’s Creative Economy Incubator and Accelerator initiative focusing on the audio-visual and design sectors. This partnership provides an opportunity to improve the capacities of women filmmakers in a male dominated industry.”
Information about training dates, application criteria and the course specifics will be announced in the coming weeks.
