Tshimologong Precinct in partnership with National Film & Video Foundation, The Gauteng Film Commission, French Institute SA, Agence française de développement and Cape Town International Animation Festival hosted the first-ever virtual Animation Pitching Incubation program.
A call went out in 2021 for South African animators to be part of the first-ever Animation Pitching Incubation program. After more than 60 original submissions, only 5 projects were chosen to be mentored.
The 5 proudly South African animation projects pitched to a panel made up of both local & international judges from which, only 1 project was selected to represent South Africa at the MIFA 2021 Africa Focus pitch session happening in June.
After an exciting pitching competition of the 5 South African projects was presented, Loyiso Mkhize & Clyde Beech, creators of “Kwezi”. were announced as the 2021 #RoadToAnnecy winners.
Kwezi synopsis
Kwezi is a young city dweller who discovers he has superhuman abilities. His journey starts off as a self-serving narcissist who only uses his abilities to further his social status. This is until he is tracked down by three individuals who exhibit similar evolutionary talents. It’s not long until Kwezi is confronted with the truth about his powers and is faced with an important decision; to carry out his life serving no particular purpose, or joining his new companions on a journey to discover who he really is and what he is destined to be.
Loyiso Mkize
Loyiso Mkize rose to prominence as one of South Africa’s best-known graphic novel and comic book illustrators, being one of the foremost contributors to the Sunday Times supplement SupaStrikers. Eventually, he discovered a passion for portrait painting, a medium he turns to as an avenue to express personal, political and social commentary.
Mkize studied at CPUT in Cape Town where he achieved his diploma qualification in graphic design in 2009. In 2015 he founded his own visual arts and communication company Loyiso Mkize Art (Pty) Ltd which publishes the energetic South African superhero comic book, KWEZI. This follows his long-standing and consistently growing career in the fine arts. Alongside a career in visual art, Mkize has also been involved in many commercial creative endeavors, including commissions, brand campaigns and publishing initiatives. His international participation has enjoyed highlights such as being commissioned to produce nine artworks for the Hollywood crime thriller, Momentum, directed by Stephen Campanelli and starring Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman and James Purefoy
Clyde Beech
Clyde Beech is a Cape Town-born visual artist and storyteller. He now specializes in comic book art and sequential visual storytelling. He is a skilled digital artist with a skill-set that includes illustration, color art, digital painting, character design and visual storytelling. He’s worked on and contributed to the development of some of the top comic books in the country, such as South Africa’s favorite superhero comic, Kwezi, as well as the widely distributed soccer comic, Supa Strikas which he Art Directed for the last few years. He’s had a brief stint in 2D animation as a background, prop and texture artist. Working on shows for Disney Junior, UK and Cookie Jar Entertainment, Canada. He loves reading and has an encyclopedic knowledge of comics, enjoys gaming, pop culture and has a background in martial arts.
