Accra Animation Film Festival (AAFFia) was born out of a shared desire to create space, visibility, and community for a rapidly growing animation scene in West Africa. As more creatives across the continent began experimenting, learning, and telling stories through animation, AAFFia emerged as a response to that momentum — a place where talent could be seen, supported, and celebrated.
As digital culture expanded across Africa, particularly among younger generations, we recognised animation as a powerful and versatile language, one capable of shaping entertainment, education, advertising, and social storytelling alike. AAFFia set out to champion this medium and the voices behind it.
During its run, AAFFia functioned as a platform dedicated to supporting and promoting African animators, offering them opportunities to showcase their work, connect with peers, and engage with professionals from around the world. Our ambition was to help grow a sustainable animation ecosystem on the continent, while fostering meaningful international exchange.
We challenged ourselves and local storytellers to raise creative and technical standards, encouraging work that could confidently stand on the global stage while remaining rooted in local perspectives.
Although AAFFia is no longer active, we hope that the work we invested in supporting and nurturing local talent helped lay a lasting foundation, inspiring creatives to believe in the strength of African storytelling and its rightful place on the global stage.
Co-Founder and Artistic Director
Diana Maria Roșu is a creative producer, strategist, and educator working across animation, interactive media, and future-facing storytelling. She is the Co-Founder and former Artistic Director of the Accra Animation Film Festival (AAFFia), an initiative created to support and amplify emerging voices in African animation and to foster international exchange within the global animation community.
She holds a BA in Audiovisual Media from Stuttgart Media University (Germany), specialising in animation and games, an MA in Digital Art from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and an MA in Creative Business from the National Film and Television School (UK).
Diana has extensive experience across the international animation and film festival ecosystem, having worked with organisations including Anim’est International Animation Film Festival (Romania) and Tricky Women / Tricky Realities Animation Festival (Austria). This background continues to inform her work at the intersection of creative development, audience strategy, and cultural exchange.
Alongside her festival leadership, Diana works as an independent creative producer and consultant, collaborating with studios and institutions on animated and digital projects spanning entertainment, education, and branded content. Her credits include producing animated series for global brands such as Mattel and LEGO with WildBrain, teaching on the Creative Business MA at NFTS, and advising early-stage animation and interactive projects on creative positioning, sustainable growth, and international development.
Co-Founder and Festival Producer
Jason Kpodo-Tay is a cultural producer, editor, and digital strategist working at the intersection of African visual culture, publishing, and creative technology. He is the Co-Founder and former Producer of the Accra Animation Film Festival (AAFFia), and the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Squid Magazine, a pioneering online platform dedicated to documenting, archiving, and promoting African creativity across comics, animation, video games, and digital art.
He is also the Co-Founder of the Alikoto Comic Book Prize, an initiative celebrating excellence in African comic art and storytelling, and supporting emerging voices within the continent’s graphic narrative ecosystem.
Alongside his independent cultural work, Jason is part of the Digital Department at Dentsu, one of the world’s leading global advertising agencies, where he contributes to digital strategy, creative innovation, and audience-focused campaigns.
Jason’s practice is rooted in deep engagement with Africa’s creative communities and contemporary visual storytelling. His involvement with the Chale Wote Street Art Festival, alongside the founding of Squid Magazine, reflects an ongoing commitment to amplifying African digital and visual culture and positioning it within global creative conversations.