One of the world’s leading platforms for animation film production, the Annecy
International Film Festival celebrated its 38th anniversary from 9 to 14 June.
Various African projects from South Africa to Madagascar were presented.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival took place in this city situated
alongside a lake of the same name in the Alpine region of south-eastern France.
Over 500 films, including the 230 in competition, selected from 73 countries,
were screened in various parts of the city and 115 000 tickets were sold. The
general public enjoyed the impressive open-air screenings that took place every
night on the lakeshore. The films ranged from 20th Fox’s How to Train Your
Dragon 2 to Europacorp’s The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock
Heart. For five days, Annecy welcomed a great mix of mainstream and
arthouse cinema in a relaxing atmosphere.
There were two African films in selection, 11 at the Film Market.
This 38th selection presented two African films: the Egyptian documentary
feature Moug directed by Ahmed Nour, which recounts the
revolution from the Suez inhabitants’ point-of-view (out of competition) and
Wendy Morris’ Heir to the Evangelical Revival, a Belgian/South
African short-film covering the director’s religious-historical heritage.
Launched in 1985, the Annecy International Animation Film Market (MIFA) is the
place to be for any professional who wants to promote a project or find a grant.
This was the reason why representatives of six African countries were in
Annecy. Some came to present projects (South Africa, Madagascar, Ivory Coast,
Tunisia), others to network (Egypt and Nigeria).
In the short film category, South Africa was in search of 30% of the R674 958
budget for My Child: Teenage Mutant Azanians (TheCar2n.TV) and R535 240 for
The Christmas Gift (BugBox Animation). Madagascar sought R874
728 for Ho A’Ni Dada (Lewak Productions and RoziFilms), more than
R1,457 million for The Wall (produced by 25 Films, a French
company) and R437 364 for Trad vs Mod (Homemade Studio).
In the feature film category, Madagascar also presented Zazarano’s
Legend produced by RoziFilms (estimated length: 1h10m) while
South Africa pitched Hillbrow, produced by Golden Planes Pictures
(estimated length: 1h30m).
In the TV series category, South Africa proposed two projects: the 52 five-
minute episode series Spring Chicken and the 52 eleven-minute
episode series The Queen of Doingland, both produced by
Zeropoint Studios.
In the MIFA development section, the Africa Toon studio from Ivory Coast
presented its feature Soundiata Keita, The Lion Waking (estimated
length: 1h10m) while Algeria presented its mixed narrative and animated
documentary Abd-El Kader (estimated length: 1h36m) produced by
the Belgian company Squarefish.
South Africa Looking for new partners
South Africa has been attending the Annecy International Animation Film Festival
for years. But its 2014 participation drew attention thanks to the Territory Focus
Conference “South Africa: Content Creators’ held during the MIFA.
“Every little thing can help,’ explains Thandeka Zwana from the National Film
and Video Foundation (NFVF). “Filmmakers are working hard. They contribute so
much in the industry. With the success of Zambezia and
Khumba, people can earn money and investors can get their money
back.’
In the Networking Lounge of the Imperial Palace, Michael Buckland, producer
from Triggerfish Studios, Glenn Gillis from Sea Monster, Tim Argall from Bugbox
Animation and Mike Scott from Mike Scott Animation presented their projects and
companies. In terms of competences, achievements and facilities, all of them
tried to convince film professionals to develop partnerships: “We have a great
sense of value, a great business environment and the same time zone as
Europe. Whatever you want, you’ll have it,’ claimed Glenn Gillis during his
presentation.
Madagascar, a great example
Every year since 2006, the Rencontres du Film Court (RFC), a Malagasy film
festival set up by filmmaker and producer Laza, gathers together aspiring
filmmakers, especially in the animation field. “At the end of the 1970s, when our
movie theatres closed down, people started to draw, recounted Laza during a
MIFA pitch. Actually, 30 filmmakers are working together on their own projects,
as well as those of other people, and international productions have started
looking at them.’
Trained through online programs and trial software downloads, these
filmmakers won courses at the ILOI school in La Reunion thanks to the festival’s
awards. One of them, Sitraka Randriamahaly was even selected in 2012 by the
valuable international Abbaye de Fontevraud’s Residency (France) for his project
The Wall, and took part to the MIFA pitch 2012.
Another filmmaker was in the spotlight: Ridha Andriantomanga, winner of the
eight projects selected by the 2014 Mifa Workshop Madagascar, organised for
the first time in Antananarivo by the RFC and Annecy.
Supported by Augusto Zanovello, winner of the 2013 Annecy Audience Award
with Women’s Letters, the French scriptwriter Agnes Bidaud, and
Corinne Destombes, French producer from Folimage Studios, Ridha
Andriantomanga was invited to present his project Ho A’Ni Dada in
Annecy. “People are always surprised by the quality of our projects,’ recounts
the RFC coordinator Stephanie Launay. “But step-by-step, we try to promote
Malagasy cinema from our festival to training, film funding and distribution.’
Through his attendance to Annecy, Ridha Andriantomanga had an unexpected
opportunity: to take part in the 2014 International Summer Workshop organised
by the famous French school, Les Gobelins, a great training in line with Annecy’s
philosophy.
“It is natural to look at countries with strong economic potential as well as
emerging countries,’ says Annecy CEO, Patrick Eveno. “There are talents,
aesthetics and stories from Africa that will lead to animated movies that will find
a right place in the international arena. An important film festival like Annecy
must gather people who put a lot of energy into developing their projects.’
Let’s hope that next year there will be more animated hits from Africa – and why
not co-productions between neighbours like South Africa and Madagascar?
