Since its launch in 2020, the DEENTAL-ACP programme, implemented by the CNC with the financial collaboration of the European Union and the support of the Organisation of ACP States (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific), has been carrying out actions to foster the professional development and networking of talents and professionals from ACP countries. As the DEENTAL-ACP programme approaches its conclusion, the CNC and MansA have joined forces to provide six animation project holders with tailored support both ahead of (13–15 October) and during the Création Africa Forum (16–18 October). As part of the “DEENTAL x MansAnimation” programme, the selected directors will attend a curated selection of events and professional meetings, and will publicly present their animation project during a pitching session.
Led by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Création Africa Forum is a major gathering dedicated to the cultural and creative industries established in France and on the African continent. It will take place from 16 to 18 October in Lagos.
Launched on 11 June 2025, the call for applications for the “DEENTAL x MansAnimation” programme closed on 6 July 2025.
Selected directors
Shofela Coker – project Crocodile Dance
Nigerian animation director Shofela Coker directed the animated short film Moremi, selected at the Annecy Festival (2023), and served as art director for the animated documentary Liyana (2017).
The project, co-directed with South African director Nadia Darries, is an animated feature film. Supported by Lucan Animation Studio, it has received development support from the MIFA Campus Talent initiative of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, as well as development supportfrom the Durban Film Mart(South Africa).
Raïssa Ioussouf – project Alakaos le monde maudit
Madagascan director, screenwriter, and journalist Raïssa Ioussouf directed the short film Madame Morel (2024), winner of a Canal+ Réunion call for projects and available on the MyCanal platform. She also contributed to the writing of season 3 of the animated series Junior, Idées en or, soon to be broadcast on Gulli.
Co-written and co-directed with Volana Razafimanantsoa, Alakaos le monde maudit is a 2D animated feature film (90 minutes). The project won the MIFA Campus Talent workshop organized with the Institut Français of Madagascar, and was also pitched at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2025.
Jihane Joypaul – project Harun & Mamun
Lebanese-Moroccan and Mauritian-Indian animation director, Jihane Joypaul developed an early passion for the medium during her teenage years, creating her first amateur short films. She trained in stop-motion animation for one year at Université Paris 8, and in 2023 took part in the Low Budget Program, where she directed the stop-motion animated short Dr. Heck (currently in post-production). In 2025, she spoke on a panel about Moroccan animation during the Venice Production Bridge, the film market of the Venice Film Festival.
Harun & Mamun is a stop-motion animated short film project. It has already received development support from the FICAM Writing Residency, the MIFA Campus Talents workshop (Animasyros International Animation Festival), the Fontevraud Residency (co-produced with NEF Animation), as well as from the Pitch Partner session of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Frank Mukunday – project Kesho
Together with his creative partner Trésor Tshibangu (Tétshim), Congolese director and artist Frank Mukunday has been working in animation for fifteen years. Initially self-taught, the duo went on to direct Machini (2019), a stop-motion animated film produced at Atelier Graphoui (Belgium), which was selected and awarded at several international festivals.
Kesho is a stop-motion animated short film telling the story of a family confronted with mining detonations threatening their home in a neighborhood of Kolwezi (DRC). The project was presented in June during the MIFA pitch sessions at the Annecy Festival.
Adja Soro – project Loka
Son nouveau projet, Loka, est un court métrage d’animation 2D en développement. Porté par une ambiance urbaine et musicale, il s’inspire de l’atmosphère de la chanson Fast Car de Tracy Chapman (1988) pour raconter, avec sensibilité et poésie, une histoire de jeunesse, de liberté et d’échappée belle.Ivorian director, writer, and producer, Adja Soro founded Studio KÄ in 2019, dedicated to producing African animated educational audiovisual content. Between 2019 and 2023, she directed the animated series En route ! and Les contes de Raya, the latter broadcast on TV5MONDE from 2021 to 2024.
Her new project, Loka, is a 2D animated short film currently in development. With a strong urban and musical atmosphere, it draws inspiration from the song Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (1988) to tell, with sensitivity and poetry, a story of youth, freedom, and escape.
Link : https://www.lestudioka.com/
Lesego Vorster – projet The Fine Print
Born in South Africa, Lesego Vorster is a director and art director, and a graduate of Gobelins, l’école de l’image (Paris). He co-founded The Hidden Hand Studios, an animation studio based in Johannesburg that focuses on on promoting Authentic African Aesthetics and Narratives.. In 2023, he directed an episode of the animated series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, released on Disney+, for which he won a Children and Family Emmy Award in the Character Design category.
Inspired by a story from the anthology New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color, Lesego Vorster is developing The Fine Print, a 2D animated short film. The project is currently in development, with script support from Nigerian author Chinelo Onwualu, the writer of the original story.
