Anant National University, the Design Only University from India, marked a major milestone in India’s creative-academic landscape with the launch of MOOO-1.0, a five-day international students’ festival dedicated to moving images, design process, design research, cinematic storytelling and emerging creative technologies.
From 25–29 November 2025, the university’s progressive campus transformed into a vibrant confluence of global perspectives, artistic innovation, and collaborative inquiry—uniting filmmakers, scholars, design leaders, studios, students, and cultural practitioners from around the world.
The festival opened with a ceremonial lamp lighting and a warm welcome from university leadership, setting a tone of openness, curiosity, and shared exploration. The first day brought audiences into deep conversations on the nature of animation and creative practice, anchored by Perpetuum Mobile Part 1 by Colombian filmmaker and educator Prof Cecilia Traslavina. Sessions on the intersection of physics and art, creative worldbuilding, and early competition screenings established the festival’s unique blend of academic depth and artistic experimentation. The evening closed on a reflective, intimate note with “Jamming of Creative Kind,” blending music, literature, and improvisation.
As the festival unfolded, Day 2 expanded into global academic exchange. Student showcases from KHM (Germany) and the Vilnius Academy of Arts (Lithuania) highlighted new directions in moving-image storytelling, while a hands-on workshop at Video SEWA connected students with community-driven filmmaking practices. A timely panel on Education in the Age of AI, featuring faculty from Anant, IIT Kharagpur, and KHM, brought thoughtful debate on how creative education is evolving. The evening featured international industry voices, including discussions on anime business ecosystems and experimental moving-image art from Switzerland, along with fresh student films and communal open-mic sessions.
Day 3 deepened the festival’s research and cultural layers with the opening of the KHM/CMI/VAA Moving Image Exhibition, a press meet, and a live Bhili tribal storytelling session by Anant Fellows. Conversations on collaborative research spanned climate action, cultural traditions, and creative methodologies. Workshops in sound design, augmented reality painting, physics-driven paper flight offered a spectrum of tactile and technological experiences. The evening converged around screenings of Manek Chowk (Video SEWA), celebrated Indian animation landmark Lamput, the visionary feminist film Sultana’s Dream, and a curated selection of films from Switzerland’s HSLU, carrying the momentum into another round of spirited creative jamming.
The fourth day opened space for discussions on creative production ecosystems, beginning with a session on production management by Chitkara University, followed by an international festival talk and the screening of Ocean on the Top of Our Mountain, a work-in-progress film bridging environmental narratives and indigenous knowledge. Industry specialists illuminated new directions in episodic storytelling, worldbuilding, and production workflows. Student showcases from Anant’s Moving Image and Technological Design programme highlighted academic rigour and experimentation. The day concluded with a practical session on pitching episodic content, giving emerging creators tangible tools for professional growth.
The final day brought the festival back to the humanities and futures of design with research presentations from IIT Kharagpur on Sundarban ecology and Indian Knowledge Systems. A showcase by Charuvi Design Labs offered audiences an inside look at contemporary mythological animation practices, followed by a talk exploring emotion and architecture within animation and games by Prof. Heeseon Kim of Chung Ang University, Seoul. A panel on Graphic Narratives as School Textbooks brought together scholars from NID, IIT Kharagpur, Anant, and TU Berlin to reflect on the role of visual storytelling in education and cultural literacy.
The concluding ceremony honoured outstanding filmmakers through the MOOO Awards, followed by an evening of artistic performances and a celebratory gathering. Conversations between international collaborators—including AnimationXpress, Huion India, and independent producers—reinforced MOOO’s commitment to nurturing creative partnerships and supporting emerging voices.
MOOO-1.0, conceived by the Centre for Moving Image (CMI) and curated under the direction of Prof. Sekhar Mukherjee, a seasoned professional, stands as a testament to Anant National University’s vision for interdisciplinary, humane, and future-oriented design education. With its blend of screenings, scholarship, community engagement, industry dialogue, and cultural performance, the festival has set a strong foundation for its evolution into one of India’s most distinctive platforms for moving-image innovation. To add the affair of Mooo-1.0 will be a long term experience of Industry-Academia to celebrate with and the Mooo-1.1 edition is already being announced on the closing ceremony of Edition-1.0 in 2027 sometime mutually suitable calendar!
