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SA animation festival launches with cinema release of Khumba

South African animators are coming together over the next few weeks to celebrate the state of the industry in the country, with the Kunjanimation Festival which kicked off in Johannesburg last night. The latest big-budget South African animation – Triggerfish’s Khumba – also opens this week. Triggerfish’s last film, Welcome to Zambezia, was one of the most successful movies produced in the country for the last 30 years, takng three times more in revenue than the Oscar winning Tsotsi.

Speaking at the launch, Thandeka Zwana of the National Film and Video Foundation said that government is focussing resources on the animation industry, which it believes has the potential to put South African film making on the map globally. Because it’s easier to localise dialogue in an animated feature than it is for a live action movie, the local industry has attracted a lot of international interest following the success of Zambezia and Zwana says that there are many opportunities to create content for the local, African and international markets. A French delegation will be visiting the country next month to discuss outsourcing opportunities and co-production.

Triggerfish’s Stuart Forrest says that while African films get categorised as ‘world cinema’ and put directly onto limited distribution lists for arthouse theatres worldwide, animated films can enter the mainstream fast.

“Animation can be mainstream and available in every market in the world,” he said, “It could put South African filmmaking on the map.”

He also said that animation needs to grow up, however, and not focus on films for children which have limited opportunities to find space in local theatres. Instead, he pointed to recent successes in comic books and sci-fi and said that SA filmmakers should concentrate on original stories and finding their own unique, adult voice.

Zwana says that the government has identified animation as an industry that could provide jobs and attract investment, and that her organisation would be working closely with Animation SA, which organises Kunjanimation, to help train animators and provide opportunities that will keep them in South Africa once they have developed skills. This could include providing shared workspaces and networking environments, similar to those that are cropping up in the tech industry.

Recent successes for animators outside of films include games citing the success of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, whose lead animator, Judd Simantov, is based in Cape Town.

An event list for Kunjanimation is over at the main website here, but there’s loads more happening and we’ll update with dates as soon as possible.

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