Organized by Tokyo Broadcasting System, the DIGICON 6+2 Grand Finale held in Tokyo on 22 July was truly a momentous occasion for Asian Animation, where glory and recognition were showered on some of Asia’s most outstanding creative efforts.
DIGICON 6+2 was a momentous Occasion for Asian Animation & CG
a. IDMT’s (China) Ellen Ling makes her acceptance speech on winning the DIGICON Grand Prize (1st)
b. TBS’ Norico Wada on Stage
c. India’s Ashish Kulkarni & Bala Rajasekar along with Korea’s Kim Dong and Japan’s Yuasa Yasuo
d. Eggstory CP’s (Singapore) Nickson Fong, Aniright’s (India) Bala, IDMT (China’s) Ellen & Aniplus (HK) Mil
e. Anirights’ Bala Rajasekar with his certificate
f. All the winners and Jury pose for the Media
Click here for the Exclusive Animation Xpress.com slide show for Digicon 6+2
The highest honor at the Awards, the DIGICON Grand Prize was conferred upon China’s IDMT (Institute of digital media technology) for The Legend of Shangrila.
India’s Bala Rajasekar and Ashish Kulkarni from Anirights Infomedia too were drenched in the downpour of appreciation as well as prizes (250,000 Yen + Softimage XSI License) for their work for The Bad Egg.
WINNERS OF THE DIGICON OUSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD
India’s Ashish Kulkarni & Bala Rajasekar along with Korea’s Kim Dong and Japan’s Yuasa Yasuo
After being selected as the number one entry from India for Digicon, the short film went on to win the Oustanding Performance Prize (2nd) at the Grand Finale. It shared this honor with two other entries, Tuba Entertainment’s Oasis (Korea) and Yuasa Yasuo’s Kioku (Japan).
Receiving his Award from TBS Television Sr. Managing Director Kenichiro Kidokoro, Anirights Creative Director Bala Rajasekar quoted Emerson saying “The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. I would like to thank Anirights Infomedia and Ashish S K for producing this film. Ashish has always encouraged and supported original ideas and content creation”
“The award means a lot to me and has further strengthened my quest in Visual storytelling. I would like to thank TBS, DIGICON 6+2, Indian partner AnimationXpress.com and others for their extraordinary support” he added.
Ashish Kulkarni stated, “We wanted to try out new flash technology with this Film. Also we are part of the Akshaya Patra movement which feeds the many hungry of our country and we wanted to create a film which would pass out the message of sharing. Since using humans was not probable we used Birds to convey how greed destroys and how sharing has its own joys”
TBS Kenichiro Kidokoro shared, “It was a great honor to have many excellent works submitted to DIGICON 6+2 Award. I have indeed felt the strong Asian Creative Power through this event. We will make further efforts to have more entries and to have more Asian countries to be involved.”
Other prizes included Digicon6+2 BS-i Prize to “Yoshinono Hime” by Maruyama Kaoru, Digicon6+2 Marunouchi Prize to “THE NAKED APE” by Hashimoto Daihichi, Digicon6+2 Encouragement Prize which was awarded to various entries including “GRAFFITI” by Miura Yuuki, “Mix A Miniascape” by Hayase Tomonori, “KUNGFU GECKO” by Egg Story Creative Production, “Mori no Andou” by Taniguchi Takashi and “THE RUNNINGMAN” by Kodama. Hunters created by Aniplus was the film which won the Hong Kong leg of the tournament.
Coming together of Asian Animation professionals and Organizations
The coming together of animation professionals and representative organizations from various countries including Japan, China, India, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore was another highpoint of the event.
Korea Culture & Content Agency, Media Development Authority (Singapore), China Cartoon Industry Forum, Animation Xpress.com, Indiantelevision.com, Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Industry Support Centre, Variety (China), Milk were some of the International supporters and partners for the event.
DIGICON 6 Senior Executive Producer /Vice President, Center for Media Development, TBS Television Yoshihiro Kasahara remarked, “Through this DIGICON 6 Award, we hope that the Asian content business will make further progress and hope to see more Asian content to be distributed through Asia. We hope this event will not only be the competition Award but also the Award for Asian creators to share there cultural background”
Indeed. The strengths of Asian Animation were in full display at DIGICON 6+2.
Be it the exquisite backgrounds and interesting character design that The Legend of Shangrila featured, or the impactful story telling that The Bad Egg boasted of; Be it the detailed texturing and lighting that Hunters had, or the fast pace and fun theme that Oasis featured. Be it the interesting style that Kungfo Gecko featured or the strength of Japanese Animation that the entries like Mori No Andou, Kioku and Yoshino Hime displayed, watching the films showcased at DIGICON 6+2, one could instantly see the connect in the sensibilities even as the styles were richly varied.
The day is not far, it seems, when animated content made for Indian sensibilities will carry over and do well across Asia. Same for content created elsewhere in the region.
Other Highlights
Other highlights at Digicon 6+2 included the way in which the jury commented on each winning entry giving their analysis of what they thought were its strengths. They also had Q&A sessions with the winners on stage and the entire audience had the opportunity to learn and grow from this process.
Equally impressive, was the high regard and the value that the creative artists and directors were accorded by the Japanese as well as other Asian professionals. A thing that we Indians need to improve on.
The kind of adulation that Bala got had to be seen be beleived. It was evident that The Bad Egg’s painterly look development and storyline impressed one and all. Not one minute passed at the post awards party without some delegate catching hold of the makers and sharing thoughts on the great look or the strong story line of the film.
Speaking later to Animation Xpress.com after reaching India, The Bad Egg Director Bala shared, “I feel very proud to receive this Award and recognition on foreign soil. The Jury has felt strongly about the visual quality of the film and they mentioned that it was of high standards.I attribute this to the TEAM as we all strived to achieve the unique look at every single stage in film making. It was made possible by very small but highly talented group of artists”
“Though it was a short visit, I managed to bring back many valuable memories; quite a few Japanese professionals personally applauded India for our rich culture and films, and wish to see more content from India”he added.
“I hope that more and more Indian animation artists get opportunities like DIGICON 6+2 to showcase their work and talent. After having interacted with so many creative professionals from across Asia at DIGICON 6+2, my confidence levels have boosted sky high and I see a great future for all of us” concluded Bala.
Stay tuned to Animation Xpress.com!
Next week along with the latest Indian animation news we feature more stories from the DIGICON 6+2 trip including a feature on Studio Ghibli and Interviews with the winning directors.