Press Release 25 February 2012

The first workshop in storytelling through the animation medium to be held in Manipur began on 25 February at the Manipur Film Development Corporation in Imphal East.  Participants from the Meitei community have joined the workshop and will be exploring the cultural heritage of Manipur for content for a short film to be part of the “Tales of the Tribes” collection in development by the Adivasi Arts Trust, a UK based organization dedicated to the preservation of indigenous art and culture of India.

Tara Douglas from England is leading the daily programme of the workshop, which began with introductions and a screening of a series of tribal animation films from Central India, “The Tallest Story Competition.”   Tara revealed that this project is also a case study in her research work to find a way of making cultural animation films in India, where animation production is dominated almost entirely by the commercial industry.  She went on to mention that the animation young people are exposed to in India often has little cultural relevance.    The aim of the workshop is for the group of participants to choose a favorite story that will also appeal to children in other parts of India and beyond, and then to complete the preproduction phase of turning it into an animation film.  They are getting help from two visiting animation students from the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad.  Of the students, Rahul Laishram is from Manipur and Sephin Alexander from South India.   They are here to share their experiences and exposure gained at NID, where the focus in animation is on content and story development. 

On the first day, participants did not know what to expect, and few had come prepared with any local folk tales in hand so Tara encouraged them to do research over the weekend and bring more stories on Monday.  The choice of story is crucial as the production of the animation film will go on for many months beyond the duration of the workshop and the story has to sustain the interest of the animators. 

The Animation Workshop in Manipur will continue until 17 March.  The workshop is supported by Government of Manipur (Department of Art and Culture), Manipur Film Development Corp. and the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust. 

For more information contact: tarapurnima@hotmail.com