Sunday, December 11, 2011

Press Release: 11 December 2011


Screenings of  “Man Tiger Spirit”, an animated folk-tale 

Following the recent premiere screening at the Hornbill Festival 2011 in Nagaland, Tara Douglas, British animator and Secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust was invited to screen the short animation film “Man Tiger Spirit” at the Wondang-ki Charitable Foundation, an orphanage in Fellowship Colony, Dimapur.
The film is just six minutes long and it captures a story about man's connection with nature and the supernatural.  Tara has worked for the past year to complete the animation film with local help from Nagas for animation, music and character voices, and with support from the State Government, Planning and Art and Culture Departments.

The screening event was held on Sunday 11 December for fifteen girls living at the Wondang-ki centre, aged from 4-17 years old.   The girls also watched a collection of tribal animation films from Central India that each showcase a different indigenous artistic style and they voted to choose their favorite film.  “I am from here and I connected with the background colours and the music of the Naga folktale as they were familiar.  This is why I happened to connect to it”, commented the Director of the Centre, Mr. N.T. Kikon.  He then went on to explain his background, how the centre had been established and his mission to help girls who he felt are the most vulnerable, by providing education.

The next stop for the animation film was to be the Kids Worship Centre in Walford, Dimapur later that afternoon.  After the worship programme by Robert Longkumer, about 25 young people sat down to watch the animation programme.  In the interaction that followed, they expressed that they enjoyed watching the animation films and were glad to know of the tribal folktales from Central India.  The one from Nagaland was a story none of them had heard before, and they listened attentively to Tara’s plea for folktales from Naga tribes for future animation films, in agreement that it was a good idea.

The Adivasi Arts Trust would like to thank Russell Humtsoe for arranging the programme today.