One of the biggest events on the global animation industry calendar, Annecy provides an excellent opportunity for Animation SA to promote the local industry and network directly with international counterparts.
This year SA has every reason to show face: two local projects have been selected through the prestigious MIFA International Call for Projects to be pitched to an open room at the festival's market. One is a 2D series titled “Anansi;” a project about kids with secret ties to African deities developed by Isaac Mogajane (Diprente Films). The other is “The Crash,” a 3D feature developed by Julia Smuts Louw (Sparks Flew Development Studio) about a de-horned rhino who sets out alone to find his missing daughter in a park fraught with poachers. Following on the heels of Golden Planes' “Hillbrow” and Triggerfish's “Sea Monster”, this is the third year in a row in which a South African feature concept has been accepted into the international pitch sessions.
This year also marks the launch of a new category in the MIFA Pitch Sessions, Animation du Monde, which has a special South-African focus session. Off the back of this event, one South African director will see his or her project come to life through a six-month residency in France, working with top French studios as well as our own Triggerfish Animation in Cape Town. “This special opportunity is the result of our ongoing dialogue with IFAS, the French Institute of South Africa, who have shown consistent dedication towards creating platforms for our two countries to collaborate,” says Triggerfish partner and Animation SA board member Anthony Silverston. “MIFA's South African pitch session is in large part the result of their efforts.” This year's competing projects are "Waterloo and Trafalgar" by Matthew Torode (Tincup), "Muzi & Kuku" by Tim and Candice Argall (Bugbox Animation) and "Kariba" by Daniel Clarke (Blue Forest Collective).
Monica Rorvik, manager for Film and Media promotion at WESGRO, the Tourism Trade and Investment Promotion agency for the Cape, is pleased to join the delegation along with representatives from the DTI, the IDC and the NFVF. "MIFA is a seminal event for marketing the industry which has and will continue to pay dividends for the growth of South African animation," she said.
Animation SA has been running since 2003 and has been involved in a number of projects that have helped to grow and develop the South African animation industry, including Kunjanimation animation festival and previous delegation visits to Annecy.
For more information and to register for membership: http://www.animationsa.org/page/become-member-animation-sa
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