AniMela, an international festival dedicated to Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC‑XR), announced that acclaimed filmmaker Kiran Rao has joined its Board of Advisors.
Rao joins an extraordinary Board of Advisors whose collective vision and expertise guide the festival’s direction. The board brings together leaders from across the animation, filmmaking, production, and festival landscape, including Annecy CEO Mickaël Marin, Graphiti Studio’s Munjal Shroff, Assemblage–Cinesite’s Arjun Madhavan, creative consultant and executive producer Ashima Avasthi Chaudhuri, and Kaboom Film Festival’s artistic director Aneta Ozorek.
Kiran Rao said, “I look forward with excitement to working with AniMela, a festival that nurtures imagination, spotlights emerging talent and innovations in transmedia, and embraces the future of storytelling. This is exactly the kind of platform Indian creators deserve, to showcase their art and connect with the AVGC-XR industry globally.”
Archana Trasy, AniMela Festival Co-Founder, said, “For too long, our creative communities existed in silos. AniMela breaks those walls – it’s where filmmakers meet gamers, animators meet technologists, and those collaborations can change the face of AVGC-XR in India. We are happy to welcome Kiran on the board, to help lead and guide the next wave in storytelling.”
Anne Doshi, Festival Co-Founder, said, “For me, AniMela brings together creators who are pushing the boundaries of animation, gaming, comics, VFX and XR because their work deserves to be seen, challenged and celebrated on a world stage.”
Conceived with passion by founders Anne Doshi and Archana Trasy, and now led by Festival Director Nina Sabnani, the festival has quickly become a vibrant home for creators, students, technologists, studios, and storytellers from around the world.
AniMela’s growing impact is strengthened by powerful partnerships with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), as well as collaborations with global institutions including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival & MIFA, the French Institute in India, and the Indian Institute of Creative Technology, which hosts India’s first Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR.
