A Guide To African Animated Shorts

The African animation industry has undergone significant changes over the years, and it is still evolving. As the animation industry grows there are many short films and feature-length films being produced. More African animators are producing quality content, and international studios are taking note of the continent’s grassroots industry.

The growth and development of the African animation industry have been greatly influenced by advances in technology. With more readily available computer animation tools and online training resources, many emerging African animators have started training themselves, sharing and learning from social media forums. We previously covered how Triggerfish, one of the continent’s leading animation studios started a free online academy for up and coming animators.

Despite the absence of quality studios with the necessary technical equipment, many individuals are starting studios all over Africa in order to meet the needs of the market for animation. Recently, partnerships have been announced with international animation studios Toonz Media Group and Baboon Animation, both of which plan to establish animation academies in Africa. The Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) encourages skills for young animators to boost South Africa’s socio-economic sector.

With all of these avenues for African artists to hone their skills and to showcase their talent there have been a growing number of quality animated shorts being produced. Let’s take a look at the ones that really stand out.

Sip

Plot: A 3D short film that explores the life of an artist, his enduring struggle, his guilty pleasures, deadlines and timelines. It is a story about the melee every creative faces in a fast paced world.

Troll Girl

Plot: A trollish child left to be raised in a hostile human village clashes with a town bully and runs away to the forest. When her adoptive mother is kidnapped by a forest beast, Troll Girl is forced to confront the danger and the town’s prejudice head-on.

The Sugarcane Man

Plot: A short allegorical animated film. A strange dog steals Ugandan village boy Akello's precious kalimba. Akello follows after it and finds himself in the clutches of the Sugarcane Man.

Belly Flop

Plot: Persistence pays off when an unashamed young girl leaning to dive is unperturbed by a talented diver who steals the spotlight.

Plot: This action-packed animated sci-fi anthology presents ten futuristic visions from Africa inspired by the continent's diverse histories and cultures. Executive produced by Oscar-winning director Peter Ramsey, these ten short films made by a new generation of animation creators draw on uniquely African perspectives to imagine brave new worlds of advanced technology, aliens, spirits, and monsters. This is Africa as you've never seen it before.

History of the Main Complaint

Plot: History of the Main Complaint is the sixth film [of a] series and is based on twenty-one drawings. It was made shortly after the establishment in South Africa of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was set up to conduct a series of public hearings into abuses of human rights perpetrated during the apartheid era. The hearings, in which individuals told their stories of personal suffering, were held in order to make reparation for abuse and in the hope of creating reconciliation between peoples. The underlying theme of this film is a (self) recognition of white responsibility. This is played out through a 'medical' investigation into the body of Soho Eckstein, the white property-developing magnate and greedy-capitalist protagonist of most of the preceding films, which provides the starting point for a revelation of conscience. (tate.org.uk)