India’s festival, AniMela, has released dates for new editions in 2024. AniMela is India’s first international festival for VFX, gaming, and comics (AVGC-XR), animation, and XR.

AniMela is backed by the not-for-profit organization, Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF), in collaboration with Annecy Festival, France. AVAF was founded by Kireet Khurana, Anne Doshi, Archana Trasy, Tehzeeb Khurana, and Neha Jain to promote visual arts and animation in India.

Editions for AniMela will be released January 18-21, 2024, in Mumbai. The festival’s digital partner is Hungama, a leading South Asian partner. Hungama has about 87 million users streaming music and video. They also offer content in over 20 South Asian and international languages.

The animation portion is valued at $462 million and is estimated to reach $754 million by 2025. VFX is valued at $608 million and is projected to reach $1.1 billion by 2025. Even more impressive, the online gaming portion is at $1.2 billion and could grow to $3.9 billion by 2025, which is why the gaming and comics sector is called the “sunrise” sector by the Indian government. Khurana states to Variety,

The important thing to understand is India is on the throes of great economic development in all areas. And therefore, the government also wants to focus on the AVGC-XR space.

Annecy, the festival’s partner, will provide a robust French network and curated programs for AniMela’s disposal. They plan to reach new potential for the country and reach a broader audience in the creative realm. Mickael Marin, the CEO of the Annecy Festival, said, “We want to change and to provoke the change of the perception of people in India. It can be the authorities, officials, but change the perception as well of the of the public.” Talent is not sparse in India but needs to span a wider audience.