Watch and Learn – 5 Short Animated Films on Public Awareness

If animation is your game, then these short films will not leave you feeling the same! Though they aren’t blockbusting mo-cap films or smooth Pixar perfection, the soft colours and rough animation hits the right spots. These raw and down-to-earth films on public awareness, are sure to leave you with some food for thought.

1. What Is Your Brown Number by Studio Eeksaurus

A film by Vinnie Ann Bose, a graduate from NID, India, What Is Your Brown Number is a comical, yet realistic take on the Indian obsession with skin colour. Spanning less than five minutes, the production depicts the underlying issue of internal racism and its correlation with economic status in India.

What Is Your Brown Number is a highly awarded film, winning titles in the 2017 US World Fest, the 6th Digital Convention in Tokyo, 2016, the 6th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival in India, and more. It can easily be watched on YouTube, on the Studio Eeksaurus channel.

If comical sketches on reality are your thing, spare five minutes to check this one out. Who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself a number too.

2. Baba by Pocket Films – Indian Short Films

Click the image to watch the film

A short film with an animation style similar to Tinkle comics, Baba (father) was directed by Akshay Sunil Malotkar, with sound design by Nikhil Bhave. It was published on YouTube in 2019 and brings to light the issue of farmer suicide and rural economic struggle in India, portrayed through the eyes of a child.

Less than six minutes long, it can be watched on Pocket Films’ YouTube channel.

Built purely on background music and sound effects to set the mood, it won awards for Best Animation in the 8th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival (2018), Best Environment Film in the Jaipur Film Festival (2018) and so on.

If you’d like a speedy roller-coaster ride on a field of feels, this is the film for you.

3. Child Marriage by SOC Films

The third animated short film from SOC Films’ ‘Shattering the Silence’ series, Child Marriage depicts what it says, the film follows the story of Mina, a young 14-year-old girl who is married off and forced to give up her education and livelihood. Witness her struggle to recover from the repercussions of marriage in less than 4 minutes.

Produced and written by Eleyna Haroun, voiced in Hindi by Rabia Kiran Rajpoot and illustrated by Hassham Shabbir, the film was published on youtube in 2019. A translation by Injila Hamesh is also included for non-Hindi speaking audiences.

4. The Rose by Climb Media

Produced and Directed by Climb Media for Childline India, The Rose is a film on corporal punishment and child rights, and tells a story of discipline systems in conservative schooling institutions, while providing access to child helplines and support groups.

Less than six minutes in duration The Rose can be watched on their YouTube Channel.

Established in 1971 under the name ‘Climb Films’, Climb Media has been producing several Public Service films and documentaries to spread awareness. Based in Mumbai, they have won 22 President National Awards and 23 international awards.

If smooth animation with crisp storytelling is up your street, this film is sure to bloom into you.

5. Kinara by PIB India

Found on the official channel of India’s Press Information Bureau, Kinara is an eight-minute film portraying the hunted lives of tigers and humans.

With a style of animation similar to watercolour painting and a simple informative narration to go with it, the film depicts the difficult lives tigers are forced to lead and the repercussion on humans. Promoting Tiger Conservation, on behalf of the Wildlife Trust of India, it also gives a detailed guide on how to coexist with tigers for the future.

If you’re an animal lover and want to learn more about the interdependence of tigers and humans, then this is a film you should definitely ‘paws’ on.

It doesn’t take long to watch and learn, so give these films a go and trace human history. Perhaps you’ll find a way to prevent its erroneous continuation in the future.