Is Indian Animation Stealing the Spotlight at Annecy 2025?

June 11, 2025: India is making a bold return to the global animation scene with Namaste MIFA!, a dedicated showcase at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Market (MIFA) on June 11. This event coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Annecy festival and features six diverse projects from eight Indian creators, all selected by India’s AniMela Festival.

The showcase spotlights a new wave of Indian animation across multiple genres and languages — English, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, and Malayalam — targeting teen and family audiences alike.

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Among the standout projects:

• “Work in Progress”: A 70-minute animated documentary by Subarna Dash and Sneha Das, exploring the complexities of urban Indian womanhood through six humorous and heartfelt chapters.
• “My First Kiss”: A bold 15-minute drama by Shrobontika Dasgupta, sensitively tackling child sexual abuse through the story of Little Rani and her imaginary friend, Mr. Chicken.
• “Patangein”: Directed by Arya Pandey, this poetic short is set in Old Lucknow, following a grieving barber haunted by memories symbolized through kites.
• “Daak”: Rahul Chakraborty’s 20-minute adventure features a Sundarbans teen who meets a shapeshifting tiger deity, blending folklore and ecological awareness.
• “Penumbra”: A thriller series by Taher Kapadiya where spirit hunters face real-world superstitions turned supernatural horrors.
• “M.O.M – Ma On a Mission”: A comedic action series by Rituparna Sarkar and Sruti Menon, following a supermom battling digital villains to rescue her son.

Also featured in the work-in-progress category is the feature “Heirloom”, directed by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya. Set in 1960s Ahmedabad, the story follows Kirti, a businessman trying to save the handloom industry, and his wife Sonal, who wants to move toward powerloom for survival. It’s a poignant tale of tradition versus progress, brought to life by a collaboration between India’s Odd&Even Pictures and Germany’s PomPom Animation.

Supported by Institut Français, the French Embassy in India, Assemblage Entertainment, and Zebu, the Namaste MIFA! initiative marks a growing recognition of India’s powerful storytelling and artistic innovation on the global animation stage.