5 Ghanaian animation professionals get ready for the 2023 Annecy Festival [fr]
Ghana has many talented animators and its future in the field of animation is extremely promising. This is why France, the third largest exporter of animated films in the world, has chosen to focus on Ghana in this field, for a collaboration between our two countries.
For the past two years, the Embassy has been supporting Ghanaian professionals in this sector through participation in the Annecy Animation Film Festival, organization of the France Ghana Animation Days in 2022, and the provision of training - Masterclasses from the Ecole des Gobelins and the launch of a free "Entrepreneurship in Animation" application with a French startup (L’Académie Franco-Anglophone des Arts Audiovisuels et du Cinéma).
In partnership with Institut Français Paris and Institut Français Ghana, the team Annecy International Animation Film Market made it possible for five Ghanaian filmmakers to develop their projects.
Through the "MIFA Campus International - Talents" workshop held at the Alliance Française Accra from 23rd to 27th January 2023, five studios selected after a call for projects were coached by three top French experts. The workshop helped to enrich the projects from a narrative and visual point of view, and allowed the project leaders to gain confidence and poise to face the international market. Delphine Nicolini, project coordinator, consultant and independent artistic producer, Anita Doron and Osman Cerfon, scriptwriter and director respectively, put their heart into their work by transmitting their passion, knowledge and experience to the Ghanaian animators. This exchange of ideas, in addition to the commitment of the participants and the immense talent already acquired by the animators, gave rise to brilliant results!
We would like to congratulate the project leaders who presented remarkable pitches at the end of this workshop:
The short film Abrefi Koto, a Father’s Joy, by Karen-Happuch P. Henneh
The feature film Talata by Najilau Dramundu and Rudolf Zeglo
The television series Asantewaa by Jesse Sunkwa-Mills
The series Fa Ma )Mo by Emmanuel Addy
The feature film SOAN (Soul of A Nation) by Sarpei Kwadey and Nii Ofei Dodoo
The revised draft pitches were presented in front of the French Ambassador to Ghana, H. E. Mr. Jules Armand Aniambossou, as well as representatives from Ghana’s culture and creative arts sector, the French Development Agency, and the European Union delegation.
The final objective of this program is to allow Ghanaian animators to pitch their project at the Annecy Festival, during the "Pitch Partners" session, which is part of the official program of the festival every year. This session is highly coveted because it offers great visibility to an audience of professionals looking for original content.
