Indian Animation Set for Annecy Splash
Indian animation will be in the spotlight across the 2024 Annecy Animation Festival.
For the first time, Indian animation will feature at Namaste MIFA, a pitch event at MIFA (Marché International du Film d’Animation) in Annecy. The event, organized by Annecy-backed Indian animation festival AniMela and co-hosted by Assemblage Entertainment and Zebu Animation Studios, will present four work-in-progress projects reflecting diverse themes such as sports, food, gender and tradition. These projects aim to blend Indian essence with universal appeal.
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The projects are “Hide & Seek” by Krishna Chandran Nair; “Rising Tides” by Pari Satarkar; “Lala” by Isha Mangalmurti and Shreeya Wagh; and “Table for One” by Debjyoti Saha and Dhruv Sehgal. These projects, part of the international MIFA Campus in India, benefited from mentorship at AniMela’s 2024 workshop.
Over at the MIFA Pitch, there are four Indian projects among the 41 global selections, two of which are also part of Namaste MIFA. Here, joining shorts “Hide & Seek” and “Rising Tides” are feature film “Mangal – The Holy Beast” by Triparna Maiti and series “Mr. Bagwan” by Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt.
In addition, there are three Indian film selections at the Annecy film festival – “15 Years of Studio Eeksaurus ‘The Seed'” by Suresh Eriyat; “Basha” by Paul Anirban; and “Maatitel” by Govinda Saoin, alongside Pakistan-Spain-India co-production “The Glassworker.”
This year, Nina Sabnani, an Indian National Film Award-winning filmmaker and educator, will serve on the jury for TV and commissioned films. Additionally, an Indian pavilion organized by the state government of Karnataka, ABAI, and K Tech Innovation Hub will showcase the best of Indian animation and VFX.
AniMela, an initiative of the Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation, a non-profit founded by Kireet Khurana, Archana Trasy, Anne Doshi, Neha Jain, Tehzeeb Khurana and Anita Karnik, supported by the French Institut in India and Rubika, Pune, is India’s inaugural international AVGC-XR festival, launched with backing from the government of India and in partnership with the Annecy Animation Festival.
Khurana said: “With the super successful launch of AniMela in February 2023 and an unprecedented selection of six Indian projects at the prestigious MIFA Pitch and Namaste MIFA, 2024 is turning out to be a momentous year for the Indian animation industry, where we would be showcasing the best Indian films. I am quite confident that we would be in a position to keep the spirit and the momentum aligned at the second edition of AniMela in 2025.”
“Table for One” co-creator Dhruv Sehgal added: “The future of Indian animation is promising if our writing can meet international standards. Animation communities like MIFA and AniMela provide networking opportunities, financial and creative support, and opportunities to showcase work on international platforms like Annecy. In essence, they’re building bridges.”
“Mangal” producer Pooja Chauhan said: “‘Mangal – The Holy Beast’ is my first animation feature film which I am producing under my company Moksha Pictures and I am really excited to discover this new world of animation filmmaking. We find ourselves lucky that we are starting the journey of ‘Mangal’ at Annecy, which is considered to be the world’s finest animation film festival. We are ready to put our best foot forward at pitching our film to the industry and hoping to attach like minded co-producers, studios and talent to make this project into a reality.”
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