WIA and FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations) are proud to announce the five delegations selected for the second edition of Stories x Women, a program aimed at increasing diversity of voices in animation globally. Stories x Women’s goal is to support access to international opportunities for women animators who want to tell their authentic stories from emerging national film and audio-visual animation communities of Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

These talented creatives, chosen from a competitive pool of 130+ candidates, will benefit from a series of mentoring sessions led by internationally acclaimed animation experts, as well as 1:1 coaching sessions that will prepare them to pitch their projects in the upcoming 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market (MIFA), including as part of the MIFA Pitching Sessions.

The selected delegations are (sorted out by country in alphabetical order):

• Superpunk – Brazil. A project led by Mirtes Santana (with Guilherme Petreca).
• Negocio de Brujas (Witch’s Business) – Chile. A project led by Paulina Sanhueza Meléndez (with Alejandra Jaramillo Fanta )
• Nerea – Dominican Republic. A project led by Fabiola Contreras Rosso (with Arima Léon)
• The Golden Pig – Malaysia. A project led by Hwei Ling Ow (with Kate Goodwin)
• Papo Hapo – Türkiye/Kenya. A project led by Irmak Atabek Ndungu (with Mbithi Masya)

Fully committed to supporting women and creators of marginalized gender identities, this second edition of Stories x Women was open to up to two-people teams, which had to have a woman in a leading role (e.g. producer, director or screenwriter).

“FIAPF is proud to bring the second edition of Stories x Women with WIA with the support of The Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Our industry, in particular its production segment, is committed to bringing new stories and new voices to our audiences across the world. Stories x Women supports the work of women animators from regions that are less visible in the international market and is an extra contribution to the collective efforts made by this industry in that field,” says Luis Alberto Scalella, President of FIAPF. “As the global voice for producers worldwide, FIAPF promotes all forms of film genres, including animation and its universal language.”

“For 10 years, WIA has been focused on reaching 50/50 gender parity in animation by 2025. The Stories x Women program aligns perfectly with our mission of supporting and empowering people of underrepresented gender identities in animation. It’s actively removing barriers faced by women and gender non-conforming creatives and making space for them to tell their authentic stories,” said Marge Dean, WIA president. “We can’t wait to see the growth and development of this international group of talented creators.”

“I’m thrilled to be part of this exciting initiative to support, mentor and champion women in animation from around the world.  Annecy is the world’s premier animation festival and inviting these incredible storytellers to the festival, and giving them access to all its resources and connections, will go a long way to helping them bring their unique stories to the world.” said Disney Executive Vice President of TV Animation, Meredith Robert.