Abdul Ndadi Is An Animator From Ghana And A Graduate From The School Of Visual Arts, NY Class Of 2013.

Abdul Ndadi is an animator from Ghana and a graduate from the School of Visual Arts, NY class of 2013.  He’s created an animation film entitled Orisha’s Journey (2014) which will be shown at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan (21st August 2014 - 25th August 2014).

Orisha’s Journey is a fantasy tale of a girl’s journey through the spirit world (‘Orisha’ denotes a spirit in Nigerian Yoruba cosmology), who must learn about the importance of remembering one’s roots. The film, set in a mysterious walking forest, explores the power of a child’s imagination and the deep meanings and manifestations of Africa.

The film is based on African folklore. I want to show another side to Africa besides safaris, so I explore different aspects of different countries around Africa in order to give the viewer a pan-African experience. It’s important to me that Africans feel that no matter where they’re from, they’re part of my film. In the West, there is not a lot of exposure to real Africans  — most people only go as far as The Lion King.  I want to take people farther, to create a deeper meaning. There is a word in Ghanaian: “Sankofa” – it means to return that which was lost. It is a symbol for not forgetting your roots and learning from the past. It is said that a tree without roots cannot stand. - Abdul Ndadi

FILM FESTIVALS

Hi! Some good news from Governor’s Island! My film “Orisha’s Journey” will there tomorrow September 25th for the New York African Film festival’s “Family Day” event. Feel free to stop by! 

Character Design WIP (Prophet) Project: Chimera from rough to digital. #wip #characterdesign #sketch #ink #comics #animation #cyberpunk #scifi #digitalart (at New York, New York)

Hey y'all! I wanted to share a “Flower Spirit” sequence from my film Orisha’s Journey. In African lore, it is believed that spirits dwell within all things and so all nature should be respected. Being of West African descent (Ghana) I grew up hearing tales of this sort which captured my imagination.(shout out to my boy Iker Maidagan on bkg colors!)

PART 8- I took the original concept of “The Lady, Or the Tiger?” by Frank R. Stockton and decided to create my own version with original characters and dialogue. Here are the storyboards. (Please see other parts for the whole story) WIP

A few doodles from my sketchbook. #characterdesign #sketch #drawings #illustration #fantasy #phoenix #sup https://www.instagram.com/p/CHuIIhHDf72/?igshid=3fv66eo93ahj

Hi All,

My film “Orisha’s Journey” is online now! Please feel free to check it out!:^) Thanks for all the support!

FILM SHORTAGE LINK "Daily Short Picks" http://filmshortage.com/dailyshortpicks/trishas-journey/

VIMEO LINK https://vimeo.com/149355438 

AWARDEO LINK

https://vimeo.com/groups/awardeo/videos/149355438

Glovebox Film Fest

Hey y'all I got some cool news my film "Orisha's Journey" got accepted into the Glovebox Short Film and Animation Festival (Boston, Mass)! I wanna say thanks again to all my friends and family that helped on this project:)

A few concept roughs & stuff with my Afro puffs... #sketchbook #story #scifi #fantasy #comics #film #animation #writing #drawing #characterdesign #art #worldbuilding #myth https://www.instagram.com/p/BzcRA1gDqBA/?igshid=1trimlqvfa8w4

Hey everybody! The Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) put up the participants for this years Short Film Corner… Again, I am truly honored to play a small part in such a great festival!! Thank you for your time and thanks to ALL my family and friends for their love and support! There’s a link below or you can just type Orisha’s Journey Cannes Film Festival and it should pop up! 

http://sub.festival-cannes.fr/SfcCatalogue/MovieDetail/f0aca806-0423-4bb5-a99b-4383851a7d6a