Lagos International Festival of Animation (LIFANIMA) rounded off its seventh 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 sector, government and diplomatic community.
Lost in the Earth, directed by Bukola Oluwadarasimi Samuel won the award for Best Visual Effects. The award was presented by Deputy General Manager at Sovereign Trust Insurance, Mr. Segun Bankole.
The 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 Divisional Head of Large Enterprises at Bank of Industry, Dr. Isa Omagu; while Best 2D Animation award went to Ajaka: Lost in Rome, directed by Ayodele Elegba. It was presented by the Executive Secretary of Lagos Film and Video Censors Board (LSFVCB), Mrs Bukola Agbaminoja.
The festival opened with screening of selected films from the 24 African countries that sent submissions for this year’s edition. That was followed by a panel session on ‘Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (I-DICE)’, an initiative of the Federal Government. The programme is a critical intervention in the creative and tech sector with a fund of $617 million which will soon be made available to enterprises in the sector.
Top officials of the Bank of Industry, 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 the Creative Industry Group, Mr. Promise George; while National Coordinator of I-DICE, Mr. Ifeoluwa Adebayo was also in attendance. Also on the panel were Managing Director of Basement Animation, Mr. Mbuotidem Johnson; and Senior Vice President, Global Business at Trace TV, Mr. Sam Onyemelukwe.
Day 2 had virtual panel sessions, which featured past winners of LIFANIMA Animation Awards. They included Tunde Oluwa of Black Ice Studios, Esther Kemi Gbadamosi of Radioxity Media, Richard Oboh of Orange VFX Studios and 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, and threw light on the ways and means of fundraising for film production. The final session on the day was Animation Production Pipeline with veteran American animation director, Artie Romero as Keynote Speaker.
On Day 3, the event opened with a well-attended cocktail party and screening of animation films. This was followed by the award ceremony.
In the past seven years, LIFANIMA has grown to become one of the leading animation festivals in Africa attracting more than 1,000 entries from more than 100 countries annually. The festival is presented by USP Brand Management in collaboration with LSFVCB.
