In September, Johannesburg will host the first session of Artificial Intelligence: A New Frontier for the Audiovisual Sector, a new France–South Africa exchange series supported by the Institut français in Paris and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). Running from September to December 2025, the series will address the impact of AI across three key creative sectors: animation and VFX, digital arts, and video games. The programme includes workshops, discussions and professional exchanges co-constructed with leading South African festivals.
The series opens at AVIJOZI (13–14 September) with a two-day training workshop entitled Demystifying AI for Animation & VFX. Designed for a selected group of South African animation and VFX professionals, the workshop introduces practical AI workflows using ComfyUI, an open-source interface for image and animation generation. Alongside technical training, participants will take part in discussions on AI and copyright, ethics, authorship and authorship considerations. The training workshop will be co-led by Nicolas Erba, Head of Digital Innovation at Paris-based post-production house Digital District, together with Dr Sechaba Maape, a South African consultant and educator whose research links AI, architecture and indigenous knowledge systems.
– Interested in attending the workshop? Find more information here.
– Festival-goers can also grab tickets to AVIJOZI and dive into the full programme of events.
Following AVIJOZI, the exchange series will continue at the Fak’ugesi Festival in October, focusing on AI in digital arts, before concluding with a gaming-focused session in December.
This project is supported by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Institut français as part of the strategy for the international export of cultural and creative industries.
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