Nigeria Focus @ MIFA 2025

The movement to spotlight Nigeria on the international stage continues to gain momentum — and 2025 marked one of our most electric chapters yet.
In partnership with the French Embassy in Nigeria, the Annecy Festival, and Création Africa Nigeria, Animation Nigeria brought together five exceptional project creators for an intensive three-day pitching workshop that culminated in a night nobody in that room will forget.

Over three days of intense, hands-on sessions, five selected Nigerian creators were coached, challenged, and sharpened by an outstanding team of women instructors: Omotunde Akiode, Delphine Farhi Nicolini and Anaïs Marthe Caura. Their expertise, energy, and investment in each creator set the tone for everything that followed.

This initiative was a declaration. Cultural and diverse stories are not just the next big thing — they are the future the world has been waiting for. And Nigeria is ready to tell them.

The Nigerian animation industry is on the rise. And we are just getting started.

At Alliance Française Lagos, the five project holders took centre stage before a captivated audience and pitched their projects with everything they had. The energy in the room was electric — a true rollercoaster of emotions for creators, partners, and everyone watching.

Demi-Cel — Tito Olawole | The Skybound Hunters — John Zino (Oporiopo) & Segun Samson | Ugo & Sim Sim — Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie & The Travails of Ajadi — Adetunji Adeoye and Udia — Afor Eseoghene Racheal.
Five stories. Five voices. Five reasons the world needs to pay attention to Nigerian animation.

From Lagos to Annecy
The Lagos pitch night was only the beginning. The selected projects went on to be presented at the Nigeria Focus @ MIFA Partners Pitch at the Annecy Festival on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 — Floor 5, Imperial Palace — in front of international broadcasters, co-producers, and industry decision-makers.