At its purest level, art has no nationality nor any other brick walls around it.
Indian animation film maker, the acclaimed Gitanjali Rao who just recently won the Golden Conch at Mumbai International Film Festival has gained even more success. Her 15 minute short film Printed Rainbow has been selected to be screened at two of the most prestigious destinations on the short film circuit, Cannes and Annecy. That’s 2 more feathers in the talented film makers’ cap.
Speaking to Animation ‘xpress, about the recent successes, Gitanjali shared,”It means a hell of a lot to any animator! My first official screening I was hoping would be in my own country/city. MIFF means a lot to us animators since it is the biggest Indian International fest for docu, shorts and animation. And winning golden Conch for best animation of course took the cake”
“Annecy is another destination the whole world of animation wishes to get into because of its huge animation market. Both MIFF and ANNECY rejected my earlier film so the determination was far greater. Cannes (Critics Week) has selected my film in competition in the short film category. Only 7 short films from the world make it each year in this section. Very few are animation. And i do not know of any other indian animation film being selected in Cannes in competition! If you ask me honestly, just being selected means the world!” she exclaimed.
Elaborating on the film, Gitanjali said,”Printed Rainbow is a story about the loneliness faced by people in a big city. An old woman living in a typical matchbox city apartment, lives a regular, routine, almost mundane existence with her cat. Her only respite comes from sitting in the afternoon rummaging through her matchbox collection. She gets transported into the fantastic, colorful worlds of printed matchbox labels and travels through little streams enveloped in dense forests, abandoned palaces that come alive; she rides trucks, runs free across meadows, she does everything her imagination desires, reliving her childhood at times, by making her dreams come alive”
“One day she takes her cat along, transported to a matchbox world of beauty and peace, tranquility and joy, only to never return. The film talks about the hopes of beauty, joy, peace and happiness which loneliness in a big city often stifles”
The award winning film maker further shared, “I wanted to tell a simple story about complex emotions, so I decided to make my characters very real. The old woman was inspired by my mother who actually had a cat and their silent relationship always interested me. So I made a story about my mother and her cat”
“Match box labels are another graphic design element that have fascinated me for a long time. So with the fantasy of the old woman, I have lived my fantasy of exploring the vibrant folk art styles as well as the street graphics of India. I cannot stop admiring the wealth of traditional and folk art that exists in our country. Will need more than a lifetime to do justice to them” she concluded.