Published on June 3, 2019 in Awards Our UNFPA-funded family planning animations Welcome to Banoni City following the life story of a young woman called Nya have been recognised and selected for screening at the world’s top animation festival in Annecy and the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver! DMI created a series of six animations for the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) project, a joint response by the United Nations and the World Bank group to a call made by the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Using humour, powerful messaging and a compelling storyline set in the fictional Banoni City (named after Bamako, Abidjan, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, Niamey, N’Djamena), Nya’s story addresses topical issues surrounding sexual health, gender inequality and family planning in Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Chad. The animated films reached millions of people on television and social media, sparking particularly lively debate on Facebook. On June 5th, DMI’s CEO Roy Head will present Welcome to Banoni City at the Women Deliver Conference Film Festival in Vancouver, curated by Emmy-winning filmmaker, arts curator and global health advocate, Lisa Russell. The Women Deliver Conference is the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women, and we are thrilled to be presenting our work amongst so many inspiring change-makers in the fields of global health and women’s rights. From 10th – 15th June, DMI UK’s Creative Team, and Welcome to Banoni City animator Angelin Paul will attend the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to present Nya’s story. It was one of 35 films selected from over 3500 entries from 93 countries, and the only animation in its category created by animators and writers from Sub-Saharan Africa. High-quality creative outputs are crucial to our projects, so it is incredibly rewarding for our Creative Team and partners to be receiving this recognition. Welcome to Banoni City was animated by the fantastic Angelin Paul, written by Marguerite Abouet, managed and produced by DMI’s Cecilia Hue and Radha Chakraborty, with further credit due to Sandrine Sekulak, Izabella Maya, Sabine Pakora, Lazare Minoungou, Jean-Baptiste Anoumon and GHWA Productions/ Ellipsanime.