India’s first-ever International Festival, AniMela for Animation, VFX, XR, Gaming and Comics was launched on 9 February 2023 by the Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF). AVAF has partnered with Annecy Festival, France to organise this three-day Festival which will be held in Mumbai in the month of November 2023. The platform aims to promote the AVGC-XR industry in India through events, activities, and workshops.
AniMela will provide a platform for Indian talent from the AVGC-XR industry to exhibit their work to a large international audience while giving them an opportunity to get exposed to some of the best work that is being done internationally. Through the platform, industry meets will be held to create a space in India to celebrate artistic, technological, and entrepreneurial innovation in the AVGC-XR industry. There will be masterclasses and workshops to inspire and educate aspirants across age groups about the art and careers in the industry. It intends to create a networking and knowledge-sharing platform for young talented artists, animation filmmakers, game developers, technologists, and storytellers from India. This will help the Indian AVGC-XR industry to graduate from being a predominantly service-providing industry currently, to a creator-industry with our original stories and intellectual properties populating the AVGC-XR universe the world over.
Speaking on occasion Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation director Kireet Khurana said, “Today India’s contribution to the global AVGC-XR sector is a mere 0.5 per cent. The global AVGC-XR sector stands at USD 800 billion. India has an immense potential to increase its share in this pie as we have world-class talent present within the country. Now as the government has taken a renewed interest in this sector we envisage the AVGC-XR sector to be the next sunrise sector that will see stupendous growth in the years to come. We already have talent present in the country. With the right kind of exposure and mentoring it’s only a matter of time before India becomes a force to reckon with.”
Annecy Festival CEO Mickaël Marin said, “We are happy to partner with the Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation and launch AniMela Festival in India. We see immense potential in India not just in providing back-end support to the large studios in the west but in creating a lot of original content that is completely homegrown. There is no dearth of talent in India, showcased and given a larger audience. With AniMela we see that happening. I am excited about being here and am looking forward to AniMela growing into a congregation of the best from the AVGC industry.”
Talking about the market potential in India, The International Animation Film Market (MIFA) head Véronique Encrenaz said, “I am excited to be in India to announce the launch of AniMela. We see a lot of creativity and technological know-how in Indian animators. They are making content that is at par with any developed country in the world. This initiative will help in the exchange of ideas and thus provide growth to aspirants in the industry. Through AniMela we intend to help create a marketplace for Indian animation content and take it to a global level.”
AniMela will have an experiential booth at Kala Ghoda Festival from 8 – 12 February where gaming booths will be set up for enthusiasts to come and experience the demos from some of the newest game developers.
AniMela is also supported by – Frameboxx 2.0, Assemblage, Anibrain, Paperboat India, Green Gold, 88 Pictures, NurnbergMesse India, Whistling Woods International, Indus Club, Hueman Creatives, Animator Festival- Poland, 360X Dubai, Kalaghoda Arts Festival, Amar Chitra Katha, Tulsea, Animation Xpress, French Consul General in Mumbai and French Institute in India and Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC).
