Renowned professional body recognised by UNESCO ASIFA India in partnership with Bengal AVGC-XR Association is gearing up to celebrate International Animation Day on 13 September at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata.
For the newly formed association in West Bengal, hosting this day-long celebration is a giant step in bringing industry stalwarts, leading professionals, students, and other enthusiasts under one roof. The organisers are aiming to fuel up the ever-evolving landscape of animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality (AVGC-XR) industry in the state.
The upcoming event is powered by Asifa India and Bengal AVGC-XR Association, in association with Webel and MESC as the skill partners. The academic partners include Frameboxx 2.0, MAAC Girish Park, Webel Animation Academy, Moople, Monarch College of Arts and Technology and George Animatrix School of Animation. The industry partners are Hi-Tech Animation, Wackytoon, CloudHouse Animation Studio, Octbot Animation Studio, Ssoftoons, Green CAD, Aviaty Entertainment LLP and Roy Holdings along with Huion as the supporting partner.
The eminent speaker lineup for the event include West Bengal IT & Electronics minister Babul Supriyo; FICCI AVGC-XR Forum chairman Ashish Kulkarni; Asifa India head Sanjay Khimesara; Webel chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya; Webel MD Sanjay Kr Das; Bengal AVGC-XR Association president Subrata Roy; Studio Eeksaurus founder and creative director Suresh Eriyat; Powerkids Entertainment CEO Manoj Mishra; Shaftesbury development executive Awani Kulkarni; Framestore CG supervisor Prashant Nair; Folks VFX head of learning & development Jayanti Mahapatra; GodSpeed Games co-founder & director Druhin Mukherjee; Harsho Chattoraj; Somneel Saha; Abir Aich and others.
After the inaugural lamp lighting the event will witness interesting sessions: ‘Story Hunting followed by Launch of Suresh Eriyat’s Book Drawing Stories’, ‘International Co-productions & Practices for the Creative Content Creation’, ‘Bringing The Fantastic to Life’, ‘Making the transition – Academic Learning to Thriving Career in Animation & VFX’, ‘Game Art : What are studios looking at from students’, ‘Unleashing Virtual Production Gaming Tech & Film Making Synergy’, ‘State of comic in bengal/India and how this medium of storytelling is relevant today’ alongside competition for students on ‘Mascot Designing for Bengal AVGCXR Association’ by Huion and comics workshop on ‘How to create a comic page from scratch’.
Throughout the year, ASIFA India engages in various activities such as workshops, seminars, case studies, film screenings, the popular monthly CGMeetup series, community activities, and educational events designed to support the Indian artist community. The Bengal AVGC-XR Association has been making constant efforts to highlight West Bengal’s huge talent pool working across the globe in the AVGC sector.
The International Animation Day celebration in Kolkata is a step towards uniting the immensely talented Indian artists with the state’s AVGC stakeholders and initiate conversation, creative endeavours and mutual growth.