Kenya became the first country in Africa to submit an original African scripted animated feature with African characters and context for Oscar consideration.
This was made known Thursday by the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) Corporate Communication Manager Letitia Ouko saying that the Film dubbed ‘Terastorm’ by Africana Digital is the Kenya Selection for the Best International Feature Film category for the 95th Academy awards, 2023.
“It is extremely encouraging to see producers in the challenging Animation sector taking risks to give us homegrown stories showing our own culture and perspectives in this popular genre. Going by the submissions this year the Kenya Oscars selection Committee recognises that the Kenya Film industry is growing leaps and bounds,” said Letitia.
According to KFC the nature of animation production is very intense hence there is only one other Animation that has ever been submitted for Oscar consideration, a South African production which was an adaptation of a British Children’s novel by famous British writer Roald Dahl.
The selection marks a significant leap forward for the Kenyan animation industry onto the world stage.
TeraStorm, an animated Feature Film presents a group of elite African heroes who unite in an attempt to vanquish an ancient wizard who threatens to destroy the earth with a powerful mysterious artefact.
The commission noted an improvement in all categories of Film Production including storytelling, acting and overall production values and quality in the country.
Apart from Terastorm by Africana Digital, KFC has received three other submissions this year that included Click Click Bang by Phil-It Productions, Chaguo by Good Karma Fiction Africa and Rising Son by Kelvin Osoo
This comes at the time the Kenyan Film industry is surely becoming even more competitive in the International Film Marketplace.
In line with its mandate, the Commission has been officially recognized by the Academy of Motion pictures, Arts and Sciences (The Oscars) to set up an Oscars Selection Committee from the industry associations and guilds to make submissions for the Best International Feature Film Category Awards on behalf of the Kenya film industry.
