What are the chances of finding a hand-drawn animated film in the times of artificial intelligence-powered features and series? Not many, one would assume. Yet student filmmaker Rachel Tom Antony believes it depends on how personal the story is. For her first animated film, Kannimanga, she drew every frame by hand and won the Best Student Film Award in the 2D Short Film category at the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) India Awards of Excellence. A story about her relationship with her grandmother needed a human touch, not the latest technology, she tells us.
“I don’t really have a strong view, pro or against AI. I’m glad that technology is coming up and there are new ways of bringing out stories. But for this story in particular, I didn’t look much into AI because I wanted to be very drastic, original, and make something close to heart. And AI seemed to be going in the opposite direction,” she says.
A student of the Indian Institute of Art and Design, Antony was certain that she wanted to explore stories within her own family for her maiden animated film. “In various media, I’ve noticed that grandmothers are normally portrayed in a positive manner, almost like second parents. But I perceived my grandmother in a different manner. I’ve often found myself not speaking much or spending time with my grandmother. She preferred to spend her time alone. So, I wanted to look into the reason why she preferred to seclude herself from the rest,” recalls Antony.
Rachel Tom Antony
As the premise took shape, her love for drawing became the tool. Antony shares that she took to animation during her childhood itself as she was keen to share stories around her, but didn’t believe she wrote well. “Animation and illustration made a lot of sense to me. I’ve been drawing since childhood. The traditional 2D animation technique made sense for what I was trying to achieve with my story — something very rustic and hand-drawn,” she shares. It took her over two months to draw every frame of the 14-minute short.
While she handled the animation with guidance from mentors at the Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD), Antony was later joined by an 11-member team to edit and design sound for the film. “Most of the initial phase of the project was done in Kerala. During the later phase, I had a team of around 11-12 people,” she says. The diretor drew inspiration not only from her grandmother’s journals but also from the works of renowned illustrators in Kerala, including Priya Kuriyan. “Priya’s style of art and stories are deeply connected with Kerala. Her work and of a few others is where I drew my inspiration from. Going forward, I want to look for more stories in Kerala,” she says.
Inspiration
‘Kannimanga’ refers to baby mangoes in Malayalam. Rachel Tom Antony shares that the story stems from her memories of pickling mangoes with her grandmother.
