Malayali’s animation film bags Annecy award

KOCHI: Fateline, an animated campaign film on child labour produced by Malayali Suresh Eriyat won the Annecy Cristal Award in the commissioned film category at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2015.
This is the first time that an Indian production has bagged this coveted award, considered to be the highest honour for animation across the globe.
Suresh’s studio Eeksaurus in Mumbai produced the film for Rotary International in collaboration with JWT, Kolkata. The film revolves around a child labourer determined to break free from the bonds that hold him down. The one-and-a-half minute film also portrays the efforts by the Rotary Club to provide free e-learning opportunities in 10,000 schools across India.
“This is the first time that any ad campaign from India has won an award at the prestigious festival. It is a matter of pride for us to have represented India on an international platform. The core ethos of this campaign was to reach out to the masses and that has been possible through the use of 2D animation in the film” said Suresh, a Tripunithura native who is now settled in Mumbai.
Concentrating on the design-centric approach to weave distinct stories for every brand, Eeksaurus looks forward to work on more such campaigns which truly challenge the definition of communication with the masses,” he added.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival had received 2,604 films from 95 countries this year, of which 199 films were selected. The award was announced on June 20.