A short animated film created for the Feminist Library in London.
The film is inspired by the story of Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, a Nigerian publisher and founder
of the Cassava Republic publishing company.

London College of Communication,
University of the Arts London

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, a Nigerian feminist who founded the Cassava Republic Press in Nigeria in 2006 with no previous publishing experience.
Her mission is to contribute to the African publishing community by making publications as much affordable and accessible to Nigerians in order to feed their imaginations, motivate them to create, and promote the African culture around the global community.

THE FILM

The inspiration behind the film primarily comes from the word “imagination”. At the beginning of planning the film, I tried to emphasize what imagination really means to Nigerian people by using several different metaphors in the film. For example, a flying book (the main element) flies like a bird which represents the main character Bibi Bakare-Yusuf herself and her passion of sharing knowledge with people, a light bulb replaced as a human head, a bunch of growing book flowers, and a lighthouse which represents the freedom of mind and a broader horizon brought by knowledge.

THE STYLE

The animation is rendered in a 2D black-and-white line-drawing style with a chalk-texture stroke that makes it look like a panel of drawing on a blackboard people normally see in class. Some key visuals such as clouds and stars establish a free and fantasy environment like the universe, which stands for the infinity and potentials of human imagination.

The storyline of the animation follows a progressive path in order to demonstrate what life is like before publishing, what publishing can bring to the society, and what changes publishing can make to Nigeria.

THE MUSIC

Proudly created by Sam Loynes, the music carries a bouncing, playful, and a magical feeling with various musical instrumentals, which tries to emphasize the meaning of imagination. Some sound elements such as book flipping sound, the sparkling sound, African style drum beat, creating a sense of liveliness for the movement of the film.