Animation in Nigeria has long been an undercurrent—appreciated by niche audiences but rarely given the spotlight it deserves. That changed dramatically in 2025 with the Eko Animation Festival, popularly known as Eko Toons Fest, which took Lagos by storm. This year’s edition marked a watershed moment, propelling Nigerian and African animation from the margins into mainstream cultural conversation. What unfolded over the festival days was not just a showcase of animated films but a bold statement that animation is now a powerful medium for storytelling, culture, and industry growth in Africa’s most populous city.
A New Era for Animation in Lagos
The 2025 Eko Toons Fest reflected the rapid maturation of the Nigerian animation industry, an industry that has steadily evolved amid challenges like limited funding, lack of formal training, and infrastructural gaps. The festival’s expanded programming, enhanced international participation, and greater public engagement marked it as the most significant animation event in Nigeria to date.
Unlike previous years when animation was treated as a sidebar event within larger film festivals, the 2025 Eko Toons Fest made animation the centerpiece. The festival attracted an unprecedented number of submissions from across Africa and the globe, underscoring Lagos’s rising status as a hub for creative innovation and cultural exchange.
The festival was also an unmistakable sign that local audiences are hungry for stories told in African languages, grounded in indigenous themes, and told with a fresh visual language. More importantly, it showed that animation is no longer viewed as mere children’s entertainment but as a sophisticated artistic and commercial form that can carry serious narratives.
History and Evolution of Eko Toons Fest
The roots of the Eko Animation Festival trace back to 2015, when a small group of animators and enthusiasts in Lagos sought to create a platform specifically for animated works, distinct from the broader Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood. The original goal was simple: give animators a space to screen their films and build community.
Over the next five years, the festival grew slowly but steadily. Early editions were modest, featuring local student works and a handful of international shorts. But by 2020, with Nigeria’s tech and creative industries booming, the festival began attracting more attention. Animators from West Africa, East Africa, and beyond started submitting films, and Lagos emerged as a natural crossroads for African animation.
The 2025 festival marked a turning point. The organizers rebranded the event as Eko Toons Fest, streamlined its submission process, and broadened its scope to include workshops, panel discussions, and exhibitions focused on animation production, distribution, and financing.
Crucially, 2025 saw the festival’s first formal partnerships with international animation bodies and streaming platforms, signaling its ambition to be more than a local showcase. This evolution placed the Eko Animation Festival on the map as one of Africa’s most important annual animation gatherings.
Festival Structure and Programming
The 2025 Eko Toons Fest spanned five days and was held at multiple venues across Lagos, including the flagship screenings at Viva Cinemas in Ikeja, alongside workshops at the University of Lagos auditorium, and exhibition spaces at the Lagos Creative Hub.
Screenings
The festival featured over 50 animated works, including short films, episodic series, music videos, and experimental animation pieces. These were grouped into thematic blocks such as African Folklore, Sci-Fi & Futurism, Social Commentary, and Experimental Animation. This curated approach enabled attendees to explore the diverse storytelling styles and artistic methods shaping contemporary animation.
Workshops and Panels
The educational component was robust. The festival hosted three intensive workshops covering:
- Low-budget animation production techniques tailored for African creators
- Storyboarding and scriptwriting for animated series with indigenous language integration
- The intersection of animation and music in Nigerian pop culture
Panels featured international guests from animation studios in South Africa, Taiwan, Japan, and Canada, as well as local industry veterans. Discussions addressed funding challenges, intellectual property management, and distribution models for African animated content.
Exhibitions and Interactive Experiences
A side exhibition showcased concept art, character designs, and behind-the-scenes materials from featured films. A VR installation allowed visitors to immerse themselves in digitally recreated Yoruba villages, merging technology and tradition.
Spotlight on 2025 Animation Selections
The heart of the festival was its animated film selections—carefully chosen to represent the best in African and global animation.
The Showstopper: Space Station Village EP8 (Taiwan)
The crowning jewel was Space Station Village EP8, a Taiwanese sci-fi animated short that won Best Animation Film. This episode belongs to a serialized story about a multicultural crew aboard a futuristic orbital village, addressing themes of identity, memory, and inclusion.
What captivated the Lagos audience was the film’s elegant blend of sleek, modern animation with deeply human storytelling. It wasn’t just science fiction for spectacle but science fiction that asked profound questions about belonging—a theme that resonated strongly across cultures.
International Highlights
Other global selections included:
- Bridge – My Little Friends (Japan): A hand-drawn meditation on friendship and loss, praised for its emotional depth and subtle artistry.
- Badwoods (Czech Republic): A dark, folkloric dystopia that challenged viewers with layered political commentary.
- Vita Nova (Ukraine): A stop-motion clay animation offering a surreal reflection on war and recovery.
- If the Dogs Don’t Speak (Canada): A minimalist, spoken-word-driven short inspired by African migration stories, resonating with pan-African audiences.
African and Nigerian Entries
Among African submissions, Dawn (Cameroon) stood out for its portrayal of urban poverty through magical realism. Locally, Nigerian works like Ajapa the Tortoise Reimagined (Yaba College of Technology) revived Yoruba folklore with modern animation techniques.
Significantly, female-led projects gained new visibility, exemplified by Zainab’s Letter, created by three women animators from Abuja. This short addressed climate change through the perspective of a child and was widely praised for its emotional impact.
The festival’s selection revealed animation as a versatile medium capable of expressing complex, culturally specific stories while meeting global artistic standards.
Key Moments and Highlights from the Festival
Beyond screenings, the festival was marked by memorable moments that underscored its growing influence.
Opening Night: A Strong Statement
Held at Viva Cinemas, the sold-out opening night was a turning point. Unlike previous years, animation was given prime-time attention. The keynote by festival founder Hope Obioma Opara emphasized the strategic role of Nigerian animation in global storytelling, alongside announcements of international distribution partnerships.
The opening screening of Space Station Village EP8 was accompanied by a live-streamed panel with international animators discussing African themes in global sci-fi narratives.
Awards Ceremony
The closing night awards ceremony solidified the festival’s credibility:
- Best Animation Film: Space Station Village EP8 (Taiwan)
- Best African Animation: Dawn (Cameroon)
- Best Nigerian Student Animation: Ajapa the Tortoise Reimagined (Yaba College of Technology)
- Audience Choice Award: Zainab’s Letter (Nigeria)
Speeches revealed the personal and professional stakes behind these projects, reflecting animation’s increasing emotional and economic significance for creators.
Industry Networking
Informal networking spaces were buzzing, facilitating connections that promise to evolve into co-productions, distribution deals, and training collaborations. Many local animators expressed optimism that these new ties will catalyze career growth and wider market access.
Impact on Nigerian and African Animation Industry
The 2025 Eko Animation Festival was more than a cultural event; it was a clear signal that Nigerian animation is entering a new phase of industrial and artistic development. The festival helped to validate animation as a serious business in Lagos, one of Africa’s largest creative economies.
Local studios reported increased inquiries from investors and distributors immediately following the event, a sign that the festival’s efforts to connect creators with market opportunities were bearing fruit. Additionally, the festival’s workshops and panels addressed critical knowledge gaps, building local capacity for production and business development.
On a broader scale, Eko Toons Fest has helped put African animation on the global map. International collaborators see Lagos as a viable partner for co-productions and innovation. This global attention boosts local confidence and encourages more diverse storytelling that embraces African culture in new, dynamic ways.
However, challenges remain. Nigeria’s animation industry still faces hurdles around funding, piracy, and the need for formal education and training. The festival spotlighted these issues but also brought together stakeholders committed to addressing them. The future depends on sustained investment and strategic support from both the private sector and government to fully realize the creative momentum into a powerhouse industry.
Lagos Just Changed the Game for African Animation
The 2025 Eko Animation Festival was not just an event but a cultural milestone that reshaped how Nigerian animation is perceived both locally and internationally.
By making animation the centerpiece and successfully blending local stories with international artistry, the festival showcased Nigeria’s storytelling power through new visual languages. This moment signals that animation is no longer just the future of Nigerian creative industries—it is the present.
The festival also highlighted the need for continued investment, training, and supportive policies to fully realize the potential of Nigerian animation. Lagos, with Eko Toons Fest, has positioned itself at the heart of Africa’s next creative revolution—where stories are told with authenticity, imagination, and global ambition.
The question now is not if Nigerian animation will rise, but how quickly and how far it will go.
