From War-Torn Childhood to Animation Pioneer: The Inspiring Journey of Ebele Okoye, Nigeria’s First Female Animator

Meet Ebele Okoye, Nigeria’s first female animator and arguably one of Africa’s first female animators. Born in the late 60s right in the middle of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, Okoye’s life is filled with unique moments that will become the catalysts that set her on the unique path of pursuing a career in animation. Especially at an early age and at a time when imagining a career as an animator, in Africa, was a blur. 

“The rebel in me rejected Watchtower but found pleasure in Awake!, because of the rich illustrations and interesting articles.” 

One of such unique moments was when she was 13, and stumbled on a copy of the famous Jehovah’s Witness pamphlet publication “Awake”. In her words, “when we had house visits from the Jehovah’s Witness and they shared their pamphlets Awake and The Watchtower, the rebel in me rejected Watchtower but found pleasure in Awake, because of the rich illustrations and interesting articles.” There was this particular edition of Awake she received that offered detailed insights into the entire process of hand-drawn 2D Animation. This moment gave her clarity and marked a turning point in solidifying her decision to embark on the path towards becoming an animation filmmaker. However, in the face of the kind of hardship she and her mother experienced, her ambition seemed like a very tall dream. It was so bad that she couldn’t afford paper to practice drawing illustrations, as she and her mother sold Akara to survive the early post-civil War era.

Living life through war and growing up in the aftermath of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, in her rustic remote hometown of Igbo Ukwu (in present-day Anambra State), was one filled with a blend of heavy hardship and rich cultural experiences, all of which shaped Okoye into who she is today.

The circumstances surrounding Ebele’s birth were nothing short of a miracle. Shortly after she was born, the hospital was bombed. Her mother escaped the hospital miraculously with Ebele, whose umbilical cord was still dangling. Being the youngest child of her parents, Ebele had to stay back in Igbo Ukwu with her mother, by the end of the war, while her father and older siblings moved back to the city. 

 “I was a busy child, with a vision that seemed unreachable: to make images move.”

Growing up in the village at that time, electricity was a fairy tale for Ebele. So, there was no television. She had to make do with folktales told under the moonlight around a bonfire.  Her brothers in the city would sometimes send her comic books (Hank Ketcham’s Denis the Menace, Peanuts, Asterix and Obelix). The music and ambience triggered by the New Yam festivals and masquerade festivals held in the village, all fueled her imagination and fantasies. 

African folktales and comic books from overseas became Ebele’s obsession, as a kid. She became an evangelist of comic book stories such as Peanuts (her favourite), to her fellow kids. This made her appear weird and she was disliked by other kids. 

Her level of poverty also meant that she lacked some of the good things in life such as new clothes. This made her more creative and by the time she was 12, she had learnt how to make clothes and shoes, as she couldn’t afford readymade ones. Alongside developing her arts, she mastered the art of tearing things apart and putting them together. Be it sewing machines or radios, nothing was spared. “I was a busy child, with a vision that seemed unreachable: to make images move,” she shares.

Many years later Ebele enrolled in IMT Enugu to study and major in Graphic Design/Illustration, as no Nigerian tertiary institution offered an Animation course back then. Before she got into IMT, Ebele had desperately tried applying to art schools abroad, but to no avail. This left her disillusioned. Ironically, the same year she gained admission into IMT, she got a scholarship from an art school in the UK. However, she lost the opportunity because she couldn’t afford a plane ticket, which then cost 60 Naira (50 GBP). However, she refused to give up on her dream to become an animator. “As a part of preparing myself for whatever opportunity that would come from any country, I started learning French and German, on my own,” she says.

Now resident in Germany since 2000, Ebele is an animator who is also actively involved in branding and corporate design. In her words, “my engagement in branding and corporate design is the same quota as my engagement in animation, but because I was a pioneer in Animation in Africa, this takes precedence on the continent.” Her foundation in graphic design studies, especially her knowledge of anatomy, from her IMT days, has also influenced her work in Web/UI design.

In April 2024, Ebele became an advisory board member for the German Federal Ministry of External Co-operations (BMZ) for the program Development Oriented Migration implemented by GiZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).

In this exclusive conversation with Ebele Okoye, we also discuss her time in Germany as an animator, her pet projects, and her vision for the next generation of animators in Africa.

“It just had to be Animation.”

1. Let’s talk about Germany. What ignited your desire to study animation in Germany, despite USA and Japan being at the forefront of animation globally?

My upbringing laid strict importance on openness, proper communication, and most of all, unwavering honesty. That played a huge role in my gravitation toward Germany instead of the USA or Japan. At one point, I got offered the opportunity to teach art in a secondary school in Silicon Valley, but that was not where my mind was, despite my openness to any opportunity from any country. It just had to be Animation.

When I finished my studies and moved to Lagos, I had a stint working in an advertising agency (Goldmark Ltd) while freelancing as a cartoonist with some newspapers and tabloids including This Day and Classique Magazine.

Around 1991, after one year in advertising, my dress code (trousers) became an issue for management. I was given two choices; either wear ONLY dresses and skirts or resign. The rebel in me, in refusing to be subjected to only the normative female dress code, chose to hand in my resignation instantly on the spot. Let’s get this straight though, wearing skirts now and then would not have been a problem, but I had 5 older brothers, and we had no money for clothes. This means that I grew up wearing a mix of girls’ and boys’ clothes and could not drop one. 

Back to “when one door closes…” that resignation was one of the best things that happened to me in my career building. I became a full-time painter and in 1995, I had my first solo exhibition at the National Museum. The same year, I simultaneously registered for French and German at the Alliance Française and Goethe Institut. I later dropped French and focused on German. During my period there, using their library, my earlier telephone directory calls got “upgraded” to writing more schools in Germany as well as applying for artists residencies.

My art practice, clothes-making business and language lessons combined, brought me in contact with many expatriates, some of whom became dedicated clients. Some became friends but as it happened, the Germans and the Canadians were different. I felt respected and appreciated as someone with a lot of knowledge and wisdom, beyond just creating art and fashion. The Germans reflected the values I was raised in. All the knowledge I had amassed from my childhood was called forth. From then on, my focus shifted heavily to Germany and learning German, researching and asking questions about the country.

By the time I had my second Solo exhibition at the Didi Museum in 1996, I had passed the test of German as a foreign language but applications to art schools and residencies still were not yielding any fruit. The exhibition, however, was successful. So, I decided to use the money and go see Europe. Those days, a German Visa was even more difficult to get than it is today, and it didn’t matter who invited you. I ran this across a cousin’s wife, who had her sister in Bremen send me a letter of invitation. Luckily, this letter and my finances from the exhibition resulted in me getting a 4-week tourist visa instantly on the same day I applied. 

That visit offered me a lot of clarity about my needs and the impossibilities that faced me even while in Germany. I could not apply for schools with a tourist visa. So, I returned to Nigeria and started a more focused application process. Those days, artists never got a visa to study in Germany. So, one must go through other means. Eventually, in 1997, I got a postgraduate admission in African studies at the University of Cologne. 

But for three years, I was refused a visa, despite that I had visited and returned after 3 weeks. It’s bizarre! All the while, the University was giving me extensions with the last one valid till only 28th April 2000. Through the intervention of some German friends and incessant letters of appeal to the Embassy, I was issued a visa just one day before my admission expired. Thus, I had only four hours to leave Nigeria in a hurry on the 27th of April if I would make it to Germany on the 28th. 

The rest of the story was a miracle.

The University of Cologne served as an entry point. With the challenge of having to renew my visa every 3 months, a permit of being able to work for not more than 90 days in a year and having to take care of my own (mandatory) health insurance because I was over 25, it was a vicious cycle which only the tough-minded can withstand. But I had a vision, and I kept pushing.

Parallel to my postgraduate studies, I continued to search for schools that offered animation. Additionally, I needed a constellation where I could secure my stay beyond 3 months in a stretch. So, I registered at the University of Applied Sciences Duesseldorf to study design, but as a freshman, because the HND certificate from Nigeria is not recognized in Germany. Then during my associated internship at the West German Broadcasting WDR, I came upon the International Film School Cologne (IFS) where I did a 1-year intensive course on traditional hand-drawn 2D Animation.

2. As a pioneer female animator in Nigeria and arguably the same in Africa too, how do you feel looking back on the journey so far, and what doors have, being a leading light for African Animation, opened for you?

Looking back on my journey, I do feel a deep satisfaction. However, I have not been able to register if being the first female animator opened doors for me or not. 

When you act from a genuine place, everything falls into place. 

Back in the day when I was seeking opportunities, I made a pact with my soul and with the universe that I would use any knowledge I obtained to do something for Animation back home.

However, due to a lot of other challenges, on my part as well as on the home front, it took almost another 6 years before my plans for home were set in motion.

Upon finishing the intensive Animation training in 2004, I worked at the Trickstudio Lutterbeck, a key animator for The Fourth King a Channel4 / WDR production. This experience prepared me for a final leap into the animation world. 

So, in 2006, I made my first official short film The Lunatic and that tiny imperfect piece seemed to open doors for me. 

It was screened at DOK Leipzig as well as Filmfest Dresden and further led to a program where I won the DEFA award and shortly after the Robert Bosch Foundation promotional Prize for animation which ironically, put me in the position to lead a German/Bulgarian Co-Production, all these while still navigating constant Visa renewal.

All these, with no reference to Africa and being the first female Animator opened. There have been some developments which started less than 1 year ago which I could attribute to being the first, but I cannot conclusively say that yet. 

In my opinion, being consistent in pushing the industry as well as building skills has more impact than being the first of anything. 

Pioneers come to set the stage for others to excel. 

“being consistent in pushing the industry as well as building skills has more impact than being the first of anything”

Some pioneers go beyond just innovating; they also take on the role of coaching others. They spend a lot of time guiding and mentoring others, which leaves them with less time to continue improving their own skills or creating new works. 

However, this doesn’t mean they stop evolving. They’re simply so focused on nurturing others that they can’t immediately put their own growth into new projects.

So, while some pioneers might offer invaluable advice that can elevate the projects of others to excellence, one might not see these insights reflected in their earlier pioneering works. This is because, at the time of creating those works, they might not have had the depth of knowledge they later acquired through their efforts in helping others grow.

In 2015, The Legacy of Rubies won the Africa Movie Academy Awards in the Animation category. In my speech in Port Elizabeth, I made it clear that the film wasn’t made to chase awards, but rather to show that we can make films that can qualify with productions from any other part of the world.

Having at least two thriving animation studios in Nigeria testify that The Legacy of Rubies and my AMAA acceptance speech catalyzed their entry into the animation world is more than gratifying. 

I simply did not know the magnitude of it then. I have spent almost the past 10 years after that coaching others and learning more in the process. However, right now, I am at a point where I am starting to create new works that embody all the knowledge and insights I have gathered along the way.

3. In 2013, you launched smedLAB, Nigeria’s first animation course; which was a success.You also currently run two other programs: Motion To The Sound, and Anijolly Girls. What are the visions behind these two programs, and how can young Nigerian and African aspiring animators be a part of them?

You will recall that when I was seeking opportunities, I made a pact with my spirit that I would bring my knowledge back home to Nigeria if I succeeded in gaining animation knowledge. So, when I finished my animation training in 2004, I was searching for ways to fulfill this and thought of a network of African Animators. But how do you build a network with non-existent bodies? I combed the internet and joined every possible group of Creatives (one of which was My Space. All efforts yielded a dead end. It was clearly too early because the MySpace rave then was music by Arctic Monkeys, Lady Gaga, etc.

Then came 2006, words started filtering out that The Facebook had been launched. I did not check it out until late 2009 and finding out that one can set up groups there brought about the birth of “The Animation Club Africa” in early 2010.

Preceding that, in 2009, my brother and I founded Shrinkfish Ltd. This was an incentive to make me come back home. I did, took a look, and realized that if I stayed, the deplorable state of infrastructure in Nigeria as it was then would kill this dream that had only just started materializing. So, we made it hybrid. My ultimate aim was that I would employ only Africans but then you have to train people first, and the first step would be to have a central place from where we can run things hybrid. We set up a small server space here in Germany and the next step was to train people. 

That was the advent of the Shrinkfish Media Lab smedLAB in 2013. The trainees also were to move further to The Legacy of Rubies for a hands-on experience. However, the same infrastructural issues in Nigeria then posed a challenge for them. In a situation where the data cost for a 5-minute online presence was bigger than an office clerk’s one-month salary, how could people move forward? 

Yet at this point, I need to add that no other people in the world are as resilient as Nigerians. The perseverance most of them showed still fascinates me. One specific case was Gbenga Ajetomobi Emmanuel. At the animation club Africa, we gave him the nickname “WIP KING” because he was starting one project after another, practicing, and learning like his life depended on it. Today, his studio Limitless Animation (Started as Hybreed Animations) is on the 3D studios ladder in Nigeria, and that is a result of perseverance. 

smedLAB was supposed to continue in 2014 but then came the Ebola scare, followed by a death in my Family in 2015 and some health setbacks of a family member all through 2016 which needed me to be there 24/7 for them and as that subsided, I had two major surgeries within 8 weeks. So surrounded by such “drama” the last thing anyone would think of is to “save the world”.

But finding the positive sides of that setback gave me the time to remodel smedLAB during the pandemic and here we are today with the sustainable hybrid version  “Motion to the Sound” (MTTS) and the sub-arm “AniJolly Girls”.

The idea behind these two initiatives stemmed from my commitment to give budding animators an empowering platform where they can hone their skills as well as network with others in the industry and find opportunities for career advancement, however, not in the conventionally known manner.

The program addresses the challenges faced by underrepresented animators, including access to equipment, guidance, and industry knowledge, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and sustainable animation industry. Our unique practical approach is to provide the animators with pre-recorded sounds and scores to interpret visually, sometimes competing for prizes in the “MTTS 30” format or just for fun in the short format “MTTS Quick Slice”. 

Prize formats include paid internships and customizable rewards to support participants’ career goals.

After two runs of MTTS, we noticed the absence of women. So, in cooperation with my business partner Katarina Gulan who has been in the empowerment space and equity-based journalism for 20 years, we established the exclusively female arm AniJolly Girls. 

Our ultimate goal here is to contribute toward increasing female visibility and representation in the animation industry.  We provide a safe space to learn and develop their skills without feeling overshadowed by their male counterparts. 

Our initial target was women and girls aged 18 to 25 but seeing that there are women out there who are much older, we lifted this strictness and opened it up to everyone.

The inaugural edition of the AniJolly Girl’s Special training kicked off on March 8, 2023, bringing together five new young female animators/directors from Africa and a Romanian British guest animator. They learned, interacted, and cooperated for 10 months ending with a group short film from a poem by a Nigerian Spoken word artist which we specifically commissioned for the training.

Long-term goals include fostering international partnerships for skills exchange and cooperation, providing participants with access to international freelancing opportunities, and increasing visibility through partnerships with film festivals

The initiative also seeks collaboration with local animation studios to establish mentorship and training opportunities, potentially leading to co-productions in the future.

Though the Animation Club Africa is no longer very active (a very good example of the cycle of “pioneers”), we see the long-term goals of MTTS and its sub-arms being met one step at a time. For instance, in September 2023, we were invited to execute the MTTS short form “Quick Slice” in a secondary school in Croatia, (during which a past edition winner from Ghana joined us through Google Meet) and on 27th April 2024 the AniJolly Girls’ Training had its  first European live masterclass at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animation (ITFS)

It is in this context that I can go back to the role being the first female animator plays because the reasons why I started these initiatives are materializing. The circle is closing!

4. How do you feel, witnessing the rapid growth of the animation sector in Nigeria and Africa, in your lifetime?

One word: TRIPPING!

5. The filmmaking landscape in Nigeria, at the same time, is buzzing with life at the moment. What is your take on the growth currently being witnessed in Nollywood?

The current growth in Nollywood is very remarkable, looking at its humble beginnings with films like Living in Bondage. Nollywood has evolved into a vibrant and thriving industry that is making waves not only locally but also internationally.

Firstly, there’s been a ton of money pumped into making movies. This influx of capital has enabled filmmakers to produce higher-quality films with better production values, which means better-quality films that people love, not just in Nigeria but all over the world.

Furthermore, advancement in technology has “democratized” filmmaking, making it more accessible to a broader range of individuals. The rise of digital cameras, editing software, and online distribution platforms makes it easier for any filmmaker with a story and a passion to make films and share them with minimal barriers to entry online.

Additionally, Nollywood has embraced diversity and innovation. They’re not afraid to try new genres and ideas, and Nigerian filmmakers are pushing creative boundaries which they did not in the past decade. There’s something for everyone.

And let’s not forget about the awards! The increasing recognition and accolades being received by Nollywood films on the international stage are helping to put Nigerian cinema on the map, further solidifying Nollywood’s position as a global player in the world of cinema.

Overall, Nollywood’s success is down to the hard work and creativity of Nigerian filmmakers. With more support and investment, it’s only going to get bigger and better, proving that it’s a force to be reckoned with in the film world.

6. Have you ever tried your hands on live action filmmaking, or do you have plans to do so?

If I showed you how many stories and scripts I have written for live-action but kept them in the drawers, you would instantly understand what scares me.

In animation, even though we have to deal with people working on the projects such as employees and freelancers, this is nothing compared to the logistics involved in live action. So let us put it this way, I like to “travel light” but please do not try to connect this to real travelling because it will instantly be proven a lie.

7. Besides your work in the animation space, What else is your big passion?

Going back to look at my story, one can already guess the other things I am passionate about.

Everything I tinkered with as a kid has stayed with me till today even in its advanced form.

The curiosity that has driven me since my childhood has not waned. When I am not into animation, I am either designing or making some wearable art or tinkering with some code for fun, or building some furniture, or tidying up some branding projects, either real or simulated or under my VR glasses. My ideal day would be one with 56 hours because there are too many toys and too little time.

8. This makes me curious about your opinion on OpenAI’s Sora and what this means for the animation world globally.

We should be having a different conversation and that is the ethical use of AI. Sora, Midjourney, Invideo, etc. do not even contribute up to 0.001% of the available possibilities with AI. When generative AI started a few years back, I was one of the people petitioning heavily because of copyright materials in generated visuals.

I do acknowledge the worries around the job losses since the advent of AI. But looking back at all the inventions that have enhanced life since the Stone Age, we should not even be debating if AI will take jobs or not because we cannot stop these tech advancements.

What we should be discussing is the ethical use of AI because fostering dialogue between stakeholders, including animators, industry professionals, policymakers, and technologists, can help navigate the ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies in animation and other fields.

Currently, while Sora continues to improve on cool short videos, I do not (yet) see it handling plots and telling stories with continuity. However, given the exponential advancement, I belong to those who predict that it will be able to in one or two years.

Last February, the Chinese state broadcaster China Media Group (CMG) launched the country’s first animated series generated by text-to-video artificial intelligence model. It looks “shitty” (pardon my language) but this is the beginning. From the exponential advancement of AI, we can envision that in 2 years, this will become a no-brainer. 

Yet, beyond Sora, the impact of interactive visuals in tech is enormous and there are amazing AI-driven medical breakthroughs. There are two sides to every coin; while innovation is getting better, and aiding the positive development of mankind, there are negative aspects like deep fakes and exploitation (hacking). 

Remember in the early 1960s when computer scientists and researchers began experimenting with computer-generated imagery (CGI). One of the earliest examples of digital animation is Ivan Sutherland’s “Sketchpad” program, developed in 1963, which allowed users to interactively draw and manipulate images on a computer screen.

Then in 1973, the feature film Westworld became the first to incorporate CG, which was created by the computer graphics division of the University of Utah. During the early days of digital animation, there were certainly concerns about the impact of this new technology on their jobs. Some feared that advancements in digital animation would lead to a decline in demand for traditional hand-drawn animation techniques and put traditional animators out of work. But over time, it became clear that digital animation did not replace traditional animation but rather complemented it, as both techniques have their own unique qualities and continue to coexist in the animation industry today.

Funny enough, the rise of digital animation created new job opportunities in areas such as 3D modelling, rigging, texturing, and animation software development.

Most people might not (yet) see how AI will create more jobs, but this is digital advancement and advancement has been happening non-stop since the Stone Age. Be it Sora or any other app, the time shall come when AI will become part of the pipeline and only those who are knowledgeable will get jobs. As we all have heard more than once: AI will not take your jobs but those who know how to use AI will.

There are so many examples of the cyclic impact of AI.

For instance; making videos for YouTube has gotten crazy easy. Anyone with an idea and a computer can dive in and start creating. More videos mean more views, which is awesome for budding creators, but the real game-changer is that AI speeds up the whole growth process and creators reach monetization milestones way faster now.  Hypothetically, one of those creators who clocks 1 million followers within a few months because of their content and the ease of creating it, COULD (hypothetically) be someone who was laid off from a secretarial job because of AI automation.

So in my opinion, instead of shunning and black-labelling AI, I would advise people, especially in the creative industry to get familiar with that because, in a few years, this will be just like being able to operate a mobile phone or a computer.

On another note, I noticed that most creatives shy from openly admitting delving into generative AI, fearing (rightfully) the backlash on image IP. So, they are openly screaming about IP breaches, but are combing the web trying to find tools they can create with as well as tools that will remove detectable traces of AI from these creations. We as creatives need to address this hypocrisy.

9. What does the future hold for Madame Ebele Okoye?

I mentioned previously that I’m circling back to focus on my personal projects, and there’s quite a lot that has been simmering in the background, including three feature films, an adult comedy series, and, of course, the preschoolers’ and young children’s brand, Spunky Toonz,  where we had done some bits of animation for the market research, but ultimately and strategically decided to prioritize books for now. Ongoing is the series  “Spunky Toonz Heroes, Icons and Rebels”, which explores themes of bravery, kindness, creativity, resilience and cultural identity. Over 200 stories of Global Heroes, Icons and Rebels have been written but the first to be published, chosen from home of course, is  “Fela Kuti, Rebellious Father of Afrobeat”. As we talk, the title is available on Paperback and Kindle, in English, German, French and Croatian and certainly more languages, by the time you go to press.

In the animation corner, the one on top of the heap, Tikka and the Quest for Time, goes way back to 2004, written during my time at animation school. Although it nearly found a home with a German TV station, their request for alterations to a character conflicted with my vision for the story. Consequently, I set it aside and briefly explored other formats such as books before setting those aside as well to focus on other most crucial stuff. After revisiting it in 2022 and receiving positive feedback from more than two sales agents, it’s getting the full treatment.

There is also Azora and the 7th Niso, inspired by the old Nigerian practice of killing twins. It was written in 2016 but marred by some of the earlier-mentioned challenges of that period. 

Agaba, Dance with a Mutant Masquerade, formerly titled Dance of Time, was part of an anthology series involving other creators globally, with Triggerfish as my producer. The development work lasted for almost two years, but the whole project was ultimately cancelled, and after the rights were returned I decided to expand the project into a feature to explore more of the positive aspects of the story.

So, there is no rest at all and in fact, with all the developments in the industry today, this is finally the right time for us to tell our stories because the entertainment world has become “African”.

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