BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
AWARD-WINNING multi-disciplinary visual artist Komborerai Chapfika, who made it to the top 30 of the Digital Lab Africa (DLA#3) online pitch competition alongside three other Zimbabweans, is optimistic that he will be among the 10 winners to be announced on April 30 and has appealed for more internet users’ votes.
Voting for the 30 finalists opened on April 15 and will close on Sunday.
Six projects per category (animation, digital music, video game, web creation and virtual reality) were chosen after an open call for entries that closed on January 31 with over 500 entries from 30 sub-Saharan African countries.
Chapfika, who entered the competition with his projects Frozilla and TRVLR under Animation and Virtual Reality respectively, told NewsDay Life & Style that he was excited to be in the final round.
“I am so excited to have made it to the final round and I am confident that I can make it into the top 10, but this is only made possible by internet users’ votes. Now I need your votes, please vote for me on www.vote.digilabafrica.com,” he said.
“If I make it I will get assistance to develop my projects, Frozilla and TRVLR, that made it to the finals following an open call. I hope DLA connects me to an international network of mentors, collaborators and distributors. This would be a huge lip in my career.”
Frozilla is a satirical animated series which follows the adventures of three odd friends as they struggle to thrive in a fictional country, the People’s Republic of Frozilla. TRVLR is a VR film that follows a group of African migrants through a dreamlike journey which spans centuries and continents.
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The 10 winners will get R42 000 cash prize and a tailor-made incubation programme to accelerate their project development with mentors from French and sub-Saharan creative industries, a residency period in France within a digital cluster/hub, and participation at industry events in France or sub-Saharan African region.
The project that gathers most votes will be awarded the DLA Audience Award including an invitation to one of its industry events in France or in the sub-Saharan African region with all costs covered.
