There’s good news for the Indian animation community!
Kolkata based Ghost Animation’s animated short, ‘WADE’ on climate crisis has won the “City of Annecy Award” at Annecy 2020.
With drastic climate change and global-warming on the rise, future of such low lying areas stand on the borderline of receiving huge natural threats. Wade, the animated film by Ghost Animation Collective, showcases a climate change nightmare set in Kolkata, few years hence, ravaged by sea level rise, where a group of humans and an ambush of tigers face off on the flooded streets.
Directed by a group of animators based out of Kolkata, this animated piece is almost like a warning signal about the fierce outcome of taking the environment for granted. The directorial team consists Upamanyu Bhattacharyya and Kalp Sanghvi. Other members of the team include Anwaar Alam, Deepti Sharma, Gaurav Wakankar, , Nikunj Patel, Saket Ghaisas, Shreeya wagh and Sarath Ravishankar, who have pitched in the animation process of the film over the past few years.
Sanghvi from the team shared the news on social media.
Wade was officially selected at the Annecy Festival 2020 making it the only entry from India for the ‘Best Animated Short Film’ category.
Bhattacharyya had lauded Annecy for organising the festival online, “We’re thankful to the organisers, especially that the Annecy Festival has managed to organise an online edition at such short notice in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the circumstances, we’re glad to be able to take our film to viewers around the world, while they stay safe and isolated.
Wade is a horrifying, eye-opening animated short about the adverse effects of climate change. It showcases a climate change nightmare set in Kolkata, few years hence, ravaged by sea level rise, where a group of humans and an ambush of tigers face off on the flooded streets.
Earlier, Bhattacharyya had told us why Wade is an important film, “Wade taps into tangible deep-rooted fears that we have. Climate change is a reality, and so are its effects. Low lying areas like Kolkata, the Sundarbans and more will soon be underwater: it’s a scientific certainty. In Wade, the sea-level has risen and the ice-caps have melted leaving no options for the residents of Kolkata to abandon the city. The Sundarban dwellers who couldn’t, have migrated to the city, but so have the tigers.”