India, 06th November, 2025: At a time when even the Mahabharat on Netflix is generated by algorithms, 21-year-old Rachel Tom Antony decided to do something radical: draw every frame by hand. When Rachel found out that her grandmother’s handwritten journals had been burned, she didn’t imagine the loss would become the foundation of her first animated film.
Her project, Kannimanga a 14-minute hand-drawn film recently won the Best Student Film Award (2D Short Film category) at the ASIFA India Awards of Excellence, one of the country’s leading recognitions in animation.
A Film That Began With A Question
Growing up between homes and histories, Rachel often wondered what it means to inherit stories you’ve never been told. “My grandmother used to write journals. When I began this project, I wanted to read them for research but they’d been burned. My father simply said, ‘There are some things you shouldn’t know,’” she recalls.
That moment of silence and secrecy becomes the emotional spark for Kannimanga, a visual journey on family, memory and the nuances that get lost in translation across generations.
The Craft Of Remembering
Entirely hand-drawn frame by frame, Kannimanga weaves journal-style narration with muted color palettes and layered textures inspired by Kerala’s lush landscapes. Its slow, contemplative rhythm mirrors how memory unfolds uneven, tender and sometimes painful.
Iterations and Animation
Guided by Shaaz Ahmed, Associate Professor of Communication Design at IIAD Delhi, Rachel explored how animation could hold space for grief and reconciliation. Shaaz Ahmed has over a decade of experience mentoring animation projects that blend storytelling, cultural context and emotional nuance. Known for nurturing students to explore experimental techniques, Shaaz has been pivotal in helping IIAD become a hub where young animators not only create award-winning work but also push the boundaries of what Indian animation can be. Recently, his work was featured in the exhibition After the Assembly: Constituting India (held at the SOAS University of London Gallery) where he contributed animated films that engage with the making of the Indian Constitution and the living nature of constitutional culture.
The film, Rachel says, felt deeply personal a way to preserve emotions through animation.
More Than An Award
For Rachel, the ASIFA recognition is not just validation of craft, but of courage — of staying loyal to an old, meditative process in a world rushing toward AI-generated visuals. “It’s a handmade film. Every line, every movement carries my hesitation and hope.”
The project was developed at the Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD). Over the past few years, IIAD has emerged as a breeding ground for both national and international recognition in animation film design. Its students have earned accolades at prestigious platforms including the Animation Xpress ANN Awards in Mumbai, the Women’s Independent Film Festival in Los Angeles, and been officially selected at AniMela, India’s premier international animation, VFX, gaming and XR festival.
With a pedagogy that combines technical mastery, research-driven narratives and artistic freedom, IIAD offers students a supportive ecosystem to experiment, fail and innovate — something Rachel credits as a key factor in her creative journey.