‘Room 5’, an animation project by Ghanaian film maker Francis Y. Brown has made it to the 2023 Essence Film Festival.

The Essence Film Festival will be held on Friday, June 30, 2023 to Sunday, July 2, 2023. 

Curated and presented by ESSENCE Studios, the film festival showcases storytellers across the African diaspora through original screenings of film, television and new media, plus panel discussions, workshops, celebrity events and more.

Francis' 'Room 5', will screen in the African Villa block.

The African Villa, will focus on Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa; and Caribbean Cabana focused on Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and Dominican Republic. 

Each day will be a mix of screenings, panels, and information sessions about production collaborations, financing in these territories, and co-distribution. 

There will also be workshops, panel discussions, filmmakers lounge, podcasts, stage readings among others.

‘Room 5’ is a dark-comedy animated short film by Ghana's and West Africa's leading animation studio, AnimaxFYB Studios.

https://youtu.be/aSHgozK5l5E

Some of the festivals Francis has attended are Annecy international animation festival 2021- short film Official selection, LA international short film festival 2021- Official selection best animation, New York international short film festival 2021 - official selection best animation and Animage international animation film festival 2021 - Official selection. 

Others are The Tide film festival 2021 - Official selection best animation, Africa movie Academy awards 2021 - Official selection Best animation, Africa International film festival (AFRIFF) 2022 - Official selection best animation.M, Abidjan animation film festival 2023 - Best African animation and Essence film festival 2023 (pending) - Official selection best animation.

About Francis Y. Brown

Francis Y. Brown is the founder and director at AnimaxFYB Studios, an award-winning filmmaking hub in Ghana, trained in a number of different cinematic mediums. He has over ten years experience in the audiovisual indutry.

He is a jury member of the International Academy of Arts and Sciences (EMMY) and a juror at MIPCOM in Cannes.

He specialises in illustration, amination, film making and graphic design. Having attained a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). Francis was shortlisted for the 40th Student Academy Awards (Oscars), won Best Animation Film at the Africa International Film Festival 2016, Black Entertainment Awards, Best Creative Artist 2017, Animator of the Year at Ghana UK Based Awards 2017 and also at Best Animator at 2018 Golden Movie Awards.

In year 2019 face2face Africa named Francis Y. Brown as one of the five African animators who can give their Hollywood counter parts a run for the money. In 2020 Francis Y. brown was once again mentioned as one of the top animators making African animation go global by Africa vibes magazine.

His debut, Mmofra channel a 70min children' s content was picked up by Amazon Prime making him the first African animation producer to achieve such a feat. Francis was honored as a laureate of Africa 35 under 35 as one of the 35 most inspiring young entrepreneurs under the age 35 making great strides in Africa.

In 2021, his short 3D animated film 'ROOM 5' was nominated at Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Making him the only West African director to be nominated for the year and one out of four films from Africa in general. The film has moved on to receive another nomination at the L.A International Shorts Film Festival, making it the second Oscars & BAFTA qualifying film festival for ROOM 5, nominations at the New York Shorts International Film Festival (Canada Screen Qualifier) and at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Francis also won the Creative Art man of the year at the 6th EMY Africa Awards.

In June 2022, the young Ghanaian animation professional was made a jury member at MIPCOM (March é International des Programs de Communication), which is part of the multinational Reed Exhibitions. He continues to be a regular feature at Meta Cinema Forum, the largest Africa and Middle East film and cinema convention. He is also a planning committee member and artistic director of the Afrotino Music Festival where Latino and African performers will be meeting in a number of cross-country concerts (Panama, Costa Rica, Columbia and Mexico).