VOA traces the beginnings of the conflict that grew into a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In early November 2020, the federal government of Ethiopia — led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — launched a military campaign to regain control of the contested region from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters. We explore the human cost of the armed clashes, which have reverberated across neighboring countries, destabilized communities, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

RESPONSIBILITIES

I animated the intro, a series of portraits and key transitions in the video. I created storyboards and rough animatics. I explored stylistic options and color palettes. The animations were created in Procreate on an iPad, and then composited and synchronized with the audio track in After Effects. The animation was published on Facebook and Twitter.