More regional winners have been decided at the mult-event, pan-African second edition of the Annecy-MIFA Pitches Animation du Monde. Presented by Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival and Market/MIFA and the African Animation Network, the contest will culminate in an all-finalists pitch at DISCOMICS Joburg (Nov. 14-17) for the chance to represent Africa in the Animation du Monde session at Annecy/MIFA 2019. The first round took place at DISCOP Abidjan in June.
The second contest was held at ICON Comic and Games Convention in South Africa, the continent’s longest continuously-running pop culture event. The judges unanimously picked the top two projects: As Aventuras dos Pestinhas (“The brats’ adventures”), represented by Nildo Essa (Mozambique); and Da Bes Band, represented by Mike Scott (South Africa).
The other ICON semi-finalists were Broken Wing (Riccardo Capecchi, SA), High Country (Greg Meek, SA) and Stick’s Taxi Solutions (Marthinus van Rooyen, SA).
The most recent round of pitches took place at DISCOP Zanzibar in Tanzania, which took place alongside the Zanzibar International Film Festival — billed as East Africa’s largest cultural event. The judges unanimously selected My Friendly Tokoloshe, represented by Khanye Mfeka (South Africa); and Hiraeth, represented by Kayla Archer (South Africa).
The other shortlisted projects were Almasi Project (Mwara Kung’u, Kenya), Broken Wing (Riccardo Capecchi, SA), Dimbit (Feben Elias, Ethiopia), Unwanted Guests (Comfort Arthur, Ghana) andZamo & The Guppies (Warwick Kay, SA).
Two more pitches will take place at:
- NAICCON, Nairobi, Kenya, 11 August – 12 August (Entries open 04 July – 3 August)
- LCC, Lagos, Nigeria, 15 September (Entries open 24 July – 31 August)
DISCOMICS, which will host the Grand Finale, will take place in Johannesburg from Nov. 14-17. The animation, games and comics event is a new enterprise from DISCOP Markets and AAN in partnership with ICON CGC, Lagos Comic Con and Nairobi Comic Con. In preparation for the big pitch, finalists will participate in the Annecy MIFA Animation du Monde Skills Programme, which includes pitching workshops, training sessions and one-on-one meetings with three specially selected industry experts.
