Cape Town’s first-ever Comic Con a successful space to geek out
Cape Town - In its first year in the Mother City, Comic Con showed why Cape Town is the heart of South Africa’s talent pool.
The four-day sold out event started in Johannesburg in 2018 and has grown from 42000 to 82000 tickets sold last year.
As the event concluded on Sunday, media spokesperson Martin Headger said: “The Cape Town International Animation Festival (CTIAF) offered a sneak preview of locally produced Aau’s Song, a film featured in Star Wars Visions Volume 2, an anthology of films, which will premiere on Disney+ on Thursday.
CTIAF director Dianne Makings said: “Being part of Comic Con has given us a chance to speak to people who consume a lot of animation and show them the behind-the-scenes of creating the work. We hope the delegates are walking away with a sense of pride about their country and about the industry.”
Carol Weaving, managing director for RX Africa, said: “This is our first year in Cape Town and we sold out two weeks before opening. Cape Town has never had this, they have been wanting it for a long time.”
International celebrity guests Tati Gabrielle (You), Kat Graham (Vampire Diaries), Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead) and Jason Moore (The White Queen) engaged with their fan-base while professional cosplayers paraded their abilities to draw an inquisitive eye.
“We’ve noticed that you have a lot of creative talent in Cape Town – a lot. The beauty about this event is ‘You be you’... If you look at the demographics here, it doesn’t matter what culture, what gender, nobody cares. You come here and you are authentically you,” Weaving said at the opening day.
Alice Umutesiwase, 29, came as the “black Lois Lane” (Superman). She said more Africans should be made aware of what lies beyond the screen: “I consume the art form, like anime and animation, so I came as the black Lois Lane. There is a lot of talent in Africa, but accessibility and investment into these art forms lacks and there’s a lack of examples for the youth because that is not what they’re exposed to.”
Weaving said demographics showed an increase in Africans of all backgrounds showing an interest in participating.
“People talk about geeks and yes we all have ‘geek’ in us, honestly we do. This is a safe place to geek out, it’s a safe place to be you, there is no judging and that is the DNA of Comic Con. You are who you are and you can be who you want to be.”
Shekinah-Lee Nyakudzi, 27, said of her first time at Comic Con Cape Town that it was well worth attending.
“I had a fun time, there was a lot to do, every corner you turned there was something happening. Seeing the different communities or people who are really into gaming being into these comics and cosplay – everyone dressed up, and it doesn’t seem out of place. I think this is the one time people get to showcase (themselves) like that, so that was really cool,” Nyakudzi said.
Comic Con Africa will be held in Johannesburg in September.
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za