Nigerian animation shines at Annecy Film Festival

'Dance of the Crocodiles' was selected by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival from more than 250 projects in development.

''We’re looking for co-producers in Europe and the United States — really, all over the world. My greatest hope is for this story to travel as far as possible. It’s a universal story, not just a Nigerian one. I want people to feel invited to explore Nigerian and African perspectives. As a storyteller, that’s what I try to do. To bridge that gap,'' said Shofela Coker, Co-Director of 'Dance of the Crocodiles'.

With more than 2,000 films produced each year, Nigeria’s film industry is the second largest in the world - behind India and ahead of the United States.

Now, the country also aims to become a major player in animated cinema, notably by developing training programs.

''Now we have universities integrating animation — whether through computer processes or workshops. We’ve been able to train people to create content not just for Nigeria, but for the entire world,'' said Mbuotidem Johnson, founder of Basement Animation Studio.

But one obstacle stands in the way of Nigeria reaching its full potential: attracting local investors.

Since 2022, the French embassy in Nigeria has been bringing a delegation to Annecy to help these young talents build networks and secure funding for their projects.

''We saw there was a real need to help develop Nigeria’s animation ecosystem. Because unfortunately, funding isn’t yet in place. There’s not much local support for content production, even though we’re seeing progress in that direction. But in the meantime, many projects stay on the shelf and never make it to the international stage — which we think is a shame,'' Christophe Pécot, Audio-visual Attaché at the French Embassy in Nigeria said.

Thanks to the intervention, three co-productions have already been signed. This year, five projects were selected by the embassy