Call for Applications: Road to Annecy 2025 – East Africa – YOA

Deadline: May 19, 2025

Applications are open for the Road to Annecy 2025 – East Africa. The Road to Annecy 2025 – East Africa version is a flagship initiative supported by the French Embassy in Kenya and delivered in partnership with the Association of Animation Artists Kenya (A3K), Alliance Française Nairobi (AFN), and The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (MIFA Annecy).

The animation business in East Africa is younger and vibrant, but the sector faces challenges corresponding to restricted distribution channels, fragmented networks, and an absence of market-readiness expertise. The programme goals to deal with these challenges by empowering studios with sensible enterprise expertise and information (pitching, distribution, and so on), connecting them to international business networks, and selling collaboration throughout the area.

Programme Objectives

• Facilitate entry to worldwide markets & consumers through a participation to MIFA in June 2025
• Equip studios with pitching, advertising, and monetization expertise & information
• Equip chosen animation studios with expertise to construct sustainable enterprise methods
• Promote regional collaborations throughout East Africa.

Benefits

• Annecy Film Festival East-African Delegation (in individual, Annecy, 8-14 June 2025): attend MIFA, world’s greatest market for animation professionals, along with fellow East-African animation studios founders and administrators
• Distribution Lab (in individual, Nairobi, September 2025): grasp pitching, advertising & enterprise technique
• 6-month mentorship & masterclasses with business specialists from Africa & France
• Showcases (Oct 2025): spotlights throughout World Animation Day in Nairobi & past

Eligibility

• Studios have to be primarily based or originate in one of many following East African international locations: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea
• Applicants have to be an energetic and formalized animation studio.
• Applicants should commit to take part to all phases of this system (Annecy, Lab, Mentorship, Showcase).
• At least one workforce member should maintain a sound passport and have the opportunity to journey to France between June 9 and June 14, 2025. This individual should even be of their nation of residence from May 21 onward to facilitate the visa application course of.
• Applicants should both have an authentic mental property (IP) at the moment in improvement or have beforehand accomplished an authentic IP.

Selection Criteria

Applications might be evaluated by a jury of specialists primarily based on:

• Creative advantage and inventive originality.
• Market potential and readability of imaginative and prescient.
• Feasibility and readiness of the studio/workforce.
• Regional illustration

Application

Interested studios should fill out the next application form on or earlier than May 19, 2025.
Remark: kindly observe that uncomplete functions, or functions submitted handed this deadline might be robotically disqualified.

For extra info, go to Road to Annecy.