Dhvani Desai wins Bronze World Medal at NYF Film awards

Dhvani Desai, founder of animation studio Metamorphosis, won the award for the film, Manpasand, in the Home Video – Children’s Programmes category

Dhvani Desai, founder of animation studio Metamorphosis, is the only one from India to win an award at the 2008 New York Festivals Film and Video awards. Desai has won a Bronze World Medal for a short animation children’s film, Manpasand (The Perfect Match), in the Home Video – Children’s Programmes category.

The film was produced by the Children’s Film Society India, an autonomous body of the ministry of information and broadcasting, Government of India. The film has also been officially selected in 10 other international film festivals all over the world, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, China, Greece, the Slovak Republic, Turkey, and at Hyderabad’s Golden Elephant festival held in November 2007. Last year, it was nominated at the International Animation Film Festival in Hollywood as well.

Dhvani Desai

The film is based on a tale from the Panchatantra, a 3rd-5th century collection of animal fables in India, and animated in the ancient and fast dying Vaishnava folk art style known as Sanjhi.

Around the 17th century, there was a tradition of encouraging unmarried girls to paint Sanjhi as a method of creative visualisation to fulfil their wishes and win a suitable groom. This film is an attempt to keep the rich traditional methods and folk art of India alive in the minds of the people, especially the younger generation. It features the story of a father’s journey in search of a suitable groom for his daughter.

A scene from Manpasand

Desai is an MBA from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. She has 16 years of experience in the animation industry. At her animation studio, she has done computer animation and special effects for various ad films. She is also a member of the executive committee of the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art.

Her earlier animated film, The Mahatma, co-directed with her elder brother and filmmaker Sanskar Desai, was selected at the Tehran International Animation Festival (2001) in Iran, and the Mumbai International Film Festival (2000) in India.

There were two finalists from India at the NYF Film and Video awards: the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs in Mumbai for the entry, Reaching Out at Work, in the Health and Medical Issues category; and Zapak Digital Entertainment for Sangati in the Student Film category.

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