Karvaan India
  • High Five
  • Reportage
  • Heritage
  • Foreign Press
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • Karvaan Urdu
  • Membership
    • Member Login
    • My Bookmarks
    • My Profile
  • Mind Matters
Reading: The booming art of animation in Africa
Subscribe
Aa
Karvaan IndiaKarvaan India
  • High Five
  • Reportage
  • Heritage
  • Foreign Press
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • Karvaan Urdu
  • Membership
  • Mind Matters
Search
  • High Five
  • Reportage
  • Heritage
  • Foreign Press
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • Karvaan Urdu
  • Membership
    • Member Login
    • My Bookmarks
    • My Profile
  • Mind Matters

Popular Posts

Health and Well Being

Survivors of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Demand Justice for Health Impact on Future Generations

Uncategorized

‘Education must be Muslim priority’

Features

The Fundamentalist Ghetto

Subscribe to our newsletter

Help us remain independent and truthful
Follow US
Copyright 2023. Civis Stories | All Rights Reserved
Karvaan India > Story > Magazine > The booming art of animation in Africa
MagazineWorld

The booming art of animation in Africa

By simrankaur 17 October 2020 5 Min Read
Share

26-year-old, self-taught Nigerian animator Ridwan Moshood, recognised by the Cartoon Network Africa Creative Lab for his animation Garbage Boy and Trash Can, was inspired by a bad experience at high school, involving a rubbish bin and school bullies. Determined to learn how to make cartoons, he spent hours in internet cafés in Lagos, watching YouTube lessons and taking notes. “I would go to a cyber-café, watch video tutorials and write down whatever I’d learnt,” he says.  

While stories of self-taught animators breaking into the industry are inspiring, more formal training opportunities do need to be developed, he Nick Wilson who reels off a list of countries where local animators are starting to make their mark: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, South Africa, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. “Wherever we’ve been able to scratch the surface and connect the community, we’ve found pretty exceptional talent and the majority of this talent is self-taught,” he says.

A Cameroonian animator, Doh D Daiga, who lives in Burkina Faso, is responsible for skills and development at the African Animation Network. “My experience in this industry shows me there exists an immense pool of young, talented and creative minds that never get to the see the day,” he says. “The only problem keeping Africa behind is a lack of training,” adds Daiga.

While there seems to be a lack of training, the local productions have already started taking off. Chris Morgan of Fundi Films was able to draw on a pan-African talent pool for his recent production, My Better World- an educational series aiming at African schoolchildren and young teenagers being able to work remotely across the continent.

My Better World quickly became the top rating children’s TV show when it was broadcasted in Kenya, earlier this year. It was also nominated for this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the world’s top animation competitions.

However, not all African animation work is aimed at the schoolchildren and teenagers.

Nairobi-based artist and animator Ng’endo Mukii’s film Yellow Fever, tackles the use of whitening creams by African women. “I wanted to look at the way women are using skin bleaching products in Kenya, and what we believe is beautiful,” she says, adding she wants “to know why”. She aims at using the medium to tell stories that are challenging and confronting at the same time. For her, animation is the ideal way to approach sensitive or hard-hitting issues related to the society. “Animation allows people to have an anonymity and a distance between what they say and how others perceive it,” she says.

INCRESED DEMAND DURING THE PANDEMIC

While more African animators win professional acclaim, international studios have started taking note of the continent’s grassroots industry. International OTT platforms like Netflix acquired its first African animation, Mama K’s Team 4 – a cartoon about four teenage girls set in Lusaka, Zambia last year.  Foreign companies such as Pixar are also hiring Africa-based animators to carry out production services for their films. “There is an incredible demand for animated content right now. This was true even before the pandemic because the streaming networks are really hungry for new content; and animation is a great way to get viewers from all different audiences,” says Rob Salkowitz, a Hollywood and entertainment reporter at Forbes. This happened because live productions were shut down or limited to socially-distanced teams.

CHALLENGES

As more Africans join the industry, some face obstacles while getting their content to reach the local screens since it is cheaper for broadcasters to import content than to fund original ones. However, the African Animation Network aims at looking into these issues and solving them by launching a TV network of their own. “We’re on that precipice of being potentially a thriving and sustainable industry,” says Nick Wilson.

Subscribe

Monthly plan starting at ₹199 (grants access to all reportage)

As an independent media outlet, we rely on your support to be the people’s voice, free from the sway of big money. Our commitment is to deliver top-notch journalism centred around you and the issues you care about. Join us today to ensure our independence and receive quality news coverage. Subscribe now!

Monthly

Monthly plan starting at ₹199 (grants access to all reportage). Cancel anytime.

₹199/month
Unlimited Access to all reportage and cover stories.Access to all digital contentCancel any timePremium support
Subscribe Now
TAGGED: Africa, animation, business

Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter

Embark on a transformative journey of personal growth and adaptation in our enlightening newsletter, exploring insights and solutions for navigating a dynamic world.
Newsletter
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn Telegram Email Copy Link Print

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter!

Embark on a transformative journey of personal growth and adaptation in our enlightening newsletter, exploring insights and solutions for navigating a dynamic world.

Newsletter

Subscribe

Monthly plan starting at ₹200 (grants access to all reportage)

As an independent media outlet, we rely on your support to be the people’s voice, free from the sway of big money. Our commitment is to deliver top-notch journalism centred around you and the issues you care about. Join us today to ensure our independence and receive quality news coverage. Subscribe now!

Subscribe Now

READ MORE

Health and Well Being

Survivors of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Demand Justice for Health Impact on Future Generations

24 June 2023

‘Education must be Muslim priority’

3 April 2019

The Fundamentalist Ghetto

3 April 2019

Vehement religious discrimination is the new norm in India

3 April 2019

You Might Also Like

Magazine

Oversights and Omissions: Response to Urvashi Butalias Indian Express Article

By uzma 10 June 2023
World

Trump-Biden on knife edge in key states

By editdesk 4 November 2020
EssaysMagazine

Bihar Election: Diary of a First Time Voter

By aditiagarwal 3 November 2020
World

Paul Pogba rubbishes rumours about him quitting national football team

By editdesk 26 October 2020

Follow US: 

Quick Access

  • About us
  • Submission
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers

Subscription

  • Subscribe Now
  • My Profile
  • My Bookmarks
  • Member Login
  • Terms And Conditions

Cookies Notice

We use our own and third-party cookies to improve our services, personalise your advertising and remember your preferences.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?