LIFANIMA Gets Lagos State Endorsement, Receives 1000 Entries

The Lagos International Festival of Animation, LIFANIMA has received the endorsement of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The State further pledged the collaboration of its agency, The Lagos State Films and Video Censors Board. This was conveyed in a letter signed by the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mrs Bukola Agbaminoja. According to her, the endorsement is based on the festival’s strategic intent to:

• To promote the rapid development of the Animation industry in Nigeria and across Africa
• To improve the movie industry through increased inclusion of animation content
• To provide a platform for the promotion of local animators and development of the quality of animation
• To expose animators to the latest technologies in animation hardware and software

In its 5th year, LIFANIMA has been working for the promotion and development of the Animation Industry in Lagos State, Nigeria and across Africa.

The submissions for the 5th edition of the Lagos International Festival of Animation, LIFANIMA closed on the 30th of September 2021 with 1,105 entries from more than 100 countries, including 17 African countries. The festival has also introduced a new category for submissions, the STOP MOTION ANIMATION CATEGORY. Prior to now, the festival had four categories, namely 2D ANIMATION SHORT, 3D ANIMATION SHORT, ANIMATION COMMERCIAL and VISUAL EFFECTS.

For the current year, the festival received the highest number of entries in the 2D ANIMATION category, which recorded 676 entries, while the newly introduced category, STOP MOTION ANIMATION pulled 240 entries.

“Last year we had to do a virtual festival due to the pandemic but this year we are excited at the possibility of having an onsite festival. We are also happy at the rapid growth of LIFANIMA into what is today one of the top two animation film festivals in Africa. We are even more excited at what this means for the African film industry. LIFANIMA is bringing African animators together and we are poised to see greater collaboration that will culminate in the successful production of proudly African animation features that tell the African story” Says Muyiwa Kayode, Festival Director, who is also the creator and Executive Producer of the multiple award-winning animation series Turtle Taido.

LIFANIMA is scheduled to hold on November 11th and 12th at Freedom Park, Lagos.

LIFANIMA has the objectives to promote the rapid development of the animation industry in Nigeria and across Africa; to improve the movie industry through increased inclusion of animation content; to provide a platform for the promotion of local animators and development of the quality of animation and to expose animators to the latest technologies in animation hardware and software.

The Animation specific film festival was founded by Muyiwa Kayode in 2017 to promote the Animation genre and support its practitioners in the continent. Over the years, it has seen a steady increase in submission of films across the categories of 2D, 3D animation, animation commercials and visual effects. The 2019 edition received over 400 films from more than 70 countries in the continent and Diaspora while last year, more than 900 entries were submitted for the festival.

The festival will feature Screening of Selected Works, Award Presentation, Networking and Entertainment, and will attract Animators; local and foreign, Film makers, Investors, Financial Institutions, Advertising agencies, Musical Video Producers, Media Practitioners, Digital Marketing professionals, Government agencies, Information Technology companies/manufacturers and the public.