Winners emerge as Lagos International Festival of Animation Festival 2023 ends
By Editor
LAGOS International Festival of Animation, LIFANIMA rounded off its 7th edition with winners emerging in four categories. The three-day festival, held at Alliance Francaise, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, attracted key players in the creative industry, financial service sector, government and diplomatic community.
The festival opened on Day 1 with screening of selected films from the 24 African countries that sent submissions for this year’s edition. The screening was followed by a panel session on ‘Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (I-DICE), an initiative of Nigeria’s Federal Government. The programme is a critical intervention in the creative and tech sector with a fund value of $617 million, which will soon be made available to enterprises in the sector. Top officials of Bank of Industry (BoI), managers of the fund, were on the panel to throw more light on the programme and answer questions from the audience which consisted mostly of practitioners in animation film and visual effects. The bank was represented by the Group Head of Creative Industry Group, Mr. Promise George and National Coordinator of I-DICE, Mr. Ifeoluwa Adebayo. Also on the panel were the MD of Basement Animation, Mr. Mbuotidem Johnson, and Senior Vice President, Global Business at TRACE TV, Mr. Sam Onyemelukwe.
Day 2 had a virtual panel sessions which featured past winners of LIFANIMA Animation Awards. They are Tunde Oluwa of Black Ice Studios, Esther Kemi Gbadamosi of Radioxity Media, Richard Oboh of Orange VFX Studios and South Africa’s Sara Laubscher who won in the 3D Animation category at LIFANIMA 2019. That session was tagged ‘The Winners Roundtable’. This was followed by Ayodele Elegba of Spoof Animation, who spoke on ‘Kickstarting Your Project’, explaining the ways and means of fundraising for film production. The final session of the day was ‘Animation Production Pipeline’, with veteran American animation director, Artie Romero as keynote speaker.
Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, Bank of Industry, Dr. Isa Omagu; Audiovisual Attaché, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Mr. Christophe Pecot and Festival Director/CEO of USP Brand Management, Mr. Muyiwa Kayode
On Day 3, the event opened with a well-attended cocktail party and screening of animation films. This was followed by the award ceremony. The Award for Best Visual Effects went to Lost in the Earth, an animation films directed by Bukola Oluwadarasimi Samuel. The award was presented by the Deputy General Manager of Sovereign Trust Insurance, Mr. Segun Bankole. The award of Best Stop Motion Animation went to Trash Monster, directed by Miriam Nwosah, and presented by veteran actor, producer and LIFANIMA jury member, Mr. Francis Onwochei. Counting Sheep, directed by Isabella Bosmos, won the award for Best 3D Animation and was presented by the Divisional Head of Large Enterprises at Bank of Industry, Dr. Isa Omagu. Best 2D Animation award went to Ajaka: Lost in Rome, directed by Ayodele Elegba and presented by the Executive Secretary of Lagos Film and Video Censors Board, Mrs. Bukola Agbaminoja.
In the past seven years, LIFANIMA has grown to become one of the leading animation festivals in Africa, as it attracts more than 1,000 entries from more than 100 countries annually. The festival is curated by USP Brand Management in collaboration with Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board and the Embassy of France in Nigeria.
