Best 3D Animation + Best Lighting & Compositing at Jaipur Animation Film Festival

Nice to receive these awards at an animation only festival. Jaipur is a lucky city for Topi - the film previously received the Critics' Award at the Jaipur International Film Festival.

The Express Tribune 'Video of the Day'

Topi just got a 'thumbs up' in Pakistan's Express Tribune:

"We all grew up listening to accounts of what happened during the 1947 partition, but Topi, a unique, animated short film, explores the sad tale of what the poor people of both countries went through in a new artistic perspective.


Said to be the only animated film on this topic, Topi is a story of a Hindu boy named Bir who migrated to India from Pakistan along with many other fellow Hindus.


For many, the partition was a moment of grief which forced them to leave their homeland for a new destination; a home they never asked for. This short animated film managed to capture the essence of this largely unexplored aspect of the migration.


Video rating: Thumbs up, for making a film on what people went through during the migration and not what people at the helm of power struggled for. "

'River Admiration Award' at Silent River Film Festival

I was happy to hear that Topi received the 'River Admiration Award' at the Silent River Film Festival, which ran from Sept 9-16 in Irvine, California. This prize is 'given to an outstanding Film, outstanding Actor and outstanding Actress', and Topi was honored in the Student Short Animation category.

(Topi was also nominated for Best Film and Best Director).

Indian Film Festival of Hope

This was a small festival that was held on August 13th and 14th in San Francisco. One of the organizers recorded the Q&A for Topi on a cellphone, and I've managed to upload a few short segments.

Style of the film:

Story/Background:

POW! WHIZ! BAM!

Visual Communications (the organization behind the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival) is featuring Topi in 'Pow! Whiz! Bam!', its upcoming animation mini-film festival on August 6 in LA's Little Tokyo.

Paris-Delhi-Bombay pics

I just received these pics of the space in which Topi is being exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The entrance to the space is through giant 'eyes', and the interior contains a salon in which visitors can experience Indian music, websites, and video.

Photos by: shang

I love the image of the curious little boy watching Topi.

Centre Pompidou, Paris

'Topi' is being featured in an exhibition on contemporary Indian art called 'Paris Delhi Bombay' at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from May 24 to September 5.

The official flyer

This modern art museum is my favorite in Paris, and I'm still in shock that my film is playing there. I found a video about the exhibition, and also dug up a few of the pictures I took at the museum during my 2008 trip to France.