India's Expanding Animation Horizons

India's Expanding Animation Horizons
(continued from page 4)

The etherial quality of Ram Mohan's The Tree. Courtesy of Jayanti Sen. © Ram Mohan.

From the next generation, Shekhar Mukherjee trained in NID's two-and-a-half year APE course and is doing excellent work, however even he is yet to produce his own film due to lack of funds. A brilliant product of NID, Shekharis is equally conversant in 2D and 3D animation so he is able to serve independent filmmakers, non-governmental organizations, etc. for animated fillers, title design and other tasks. His films at NID include Sadyantra (1994) and Can You Hear Them Crying (1995).

Our latest animation star is Sharna Das, who has just had her first film Arabian Nights screened, not only in the special Indian program at Hiroshima '98, but at the prestigious Hamburg International Short Film Festival. Sharna received her animation training in Worthing, U.K. At Worthing she created the storyboard for Arabian Nights, the fantasy of a young boy who imagines the raindrops of the sea turning into little princesses. This was later completed in Calcutta and won international acclaim.

A scene from the acclaimed film The Arabian Nights by Sharna Das. Courtesy of Jayanti Sen. © Sharna Das.

While I am trying to find funding for my own animation series, Grandma's Bag Of Tales, for the International market, I have found that the Eastern region has in actuality contributed a lot toward Indian animation, apart from fiction, educational films based on science subjects, social awareness programs and others have all been created here. Animation awareness is on the rise but we still need governmental support and cooperation, especially at the state level to continue working. Animators at the national level like Bhimsain, Ram Mohan or other international animators like Sayoko Kinoshita are all trying their best to encourage and support us, but at the local level such support is still lacking.

But with dedicated animators like Chandi Lahiri, Shekhar Mukherjee, Sharna Das and myself working full steam to find producers, and my active plans to hold a festival fully dedicated to animation in Calcutta in the next millenium, animation in the Eastern region is bound to pick up speed and make its presence felt.

To be continued...

Jayanti Sen has been working as a freelance journalist for various English and Bengali journals in India and abroad for the last seventeen years writing on subjects such as cinema, theatre, art, music, science, puppetry, advertising and animation. She is also an animation filmmaker who has had several of her films screened in International film festivals.