Boukary Sawadogo’s new book, “African Animation: History, Culture, and Industry,” will be published by Rutgers University Press on March 9, 2027.
The book looks at animation from across the African continent: its history, the social and political conditions it grew out of, its artistic and technological development, its visual cultures and its market economics.
Sawadogo also asks how the history of animation changes once African work is added to a story usually told from Hollywood, Japan, and Korea.
The book is 176 pages, with 23 color images. Paperback and ebook editions cost $29.95; the hardback costs $130. Preorders are open now on Amazon and on the Rutgers University Press site from December 9.
Sawadogo teaches cinema studies at the City College of New York (CUNY) and has run the Harlem African Animation Festival since founding it in 2020. His earlier books include “African Film Studies: An Introduction,” “West African Screen Media: Comedy, TV Series, and Transnationalization” and “Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story.”