The Aniverse & Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF) is organising India’s first international Animation, Gaming, Visual Effects, Comics & Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) festival, AniMela, in Mumbai from January 19 - January 21, 2024. The four-day festival will be a platform for Indian creators, emerging talent and professionals in the AVGC-XR field to bring the best of animation film screenings, gaming experiential zones, comic book/graphic novel creators, knowledge-sharing and mentoring sessions, immersive experience zones and networking, in front of everyone on a big stage.


The art pieces that will be showcased here will compete with each other to secure a spot in the top 5 animation projects (feature, shorts or series) that AVAF will support to be pitched globally to top producers, platforms & collaborators.


Educational institutes like the School of Visual Arts (New York), Griffith Film School (Australia), Rubika Institute (Pune), Whistling Woods International and Frameboxx, and many more will be participating in this four-day event.


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Seven international movies which will be showcased in this event are:



  • Unicorn Wars — A 2022 Spanish-French animated splatter war film written and directed by Alberto Vázquez. The plot is set against the backdrop of a conflict between anthropomorphised teddy bears and unicorns, following two bear siblings deployed on a military mission to a magical forest populated by wild unicorns.

  • Aurora's Sunrise — At only 14 years old, Aurora Mardiganian lost everything to the horrific Armenian Genocide. Four years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she’s catapulted to stardom, starring as herself in ‘Auction of Souls’, a Hollywood blockbuster chronicling the genocide, and becomes the face of a massive charity campaign. It is a blend of animation and documentary, featuring interviews and footage of Aurora herself. 

  • Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman — A giant talking frog and an elusive cat help a listless bank employee, his traumatised wife, and a lonely accountant seek meaning in their lives and possibly save Tokyo from catastrophe in the animated feature Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. 

  • Slide — A mythical cowboy appears in a corrupt 1940s logging town and, with the help of his slide guitar and a giant Hellbug, battles the evil Mayor and his equally evil twin to clean up the town of Sourdough Creek. It is a hand-drawn entertaining piece of art.

  • Adam Change Lentement / When Adam Changes — Adam is a 15-year-old teenager who has the strange peculiarity of having a body that changes, depending on the teasing and negative comments he receives from those around him. The accumulation of his physical changes just adds a layer to his already complex life.

  • Hokkyoku Hyakkaten No - Concierge San — The story is set in a mysterious department store where all customers who come are animals. JHeroine is Akino (a human girl) who works as a new concierge. Every time in front of her an animal customer of an "extinct species" appears. 

  • Lucky Dog — An Indian dog dreams of immigrating to Canada to be reunited with his owner. But first, he needs a visa. 'Lucky Dog' is an animated musical satire about immigration and privilege.


If you visit the festival then you can watch movies in the 360-degree dome, experience an immersive aircraft simulator that delivers a realistic flight experience,