Young creators from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania successfully completed a series of animation productions; a first in the East Africa Region, under the patronage of the UNESCO led initiative Africa Animated! The trainees followed an introduction to animation, drawing techniques, scriptwriting for animation and storyboarding.
The training started in Zanzibar International Film Festival's (ZIFF) in June 2004, followed by a four-week workshop in Nairobi at the Kenya College of Communication Technology (KCCT), where the films were produced.
This innovative pilot training was led by the staff from renowned international film, art and animation colleges, such as Parsons School of Design, New York; Concordia University, Montreal and Bournemouth University, U.K. With these partners, participants in the project had an initial five week hands-on training and production workshop that resulted in the creation of a series of short animated films.
All of these films, which were screened November 11 at the French Cultural Centre, were developed and produced by artists from East Africa, most of whom had no previous animation training.
Other partners have joined the initiative and are supporting the idea of training to encourage production of African animated cartoons. These include Canal France International (CFI), the French Cooperation, the French Embassy Nairobi, the Mohammed Amin Foundation, UNICEF with its Sara Communication Initiative, Bournemouth University, Kenya College of Communication Technology (KCCT), Kenya Television Network (KTN), URTNA and SABA.
For more information on the UNESCO initiative Africa Animated! go to: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en.
