India’s Chitrakatha’11 International Festival Honors Australian Animation Vet Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross’ films will represent Australian animation at the Chitrakatha’11 international festival in India, from October 19 to 23. Yoram Gross built an animation empire by bringing Australian characters, from Dot and the Kangaroo to Blinky Bill, to the screen.

The Chitrakatha festival celebrates animation design and graphic storytelling from across the globe. The Cinema of Wonders program features Persian tales – animation from Iran to the Yoram Gross films: Blinky Bill The Mischievous Koala and The Little Convict starring Rolf Harris.

Chitrakatha 2011 commemorates 50 years of animation education at the National Institute of Design. This year’s theme is Back to Basics – exploring effective and timeless animation design.

Yoram Gross’ films and children’s series have been enjoyed by generations and are still cherished today. The Blinky Bill Series first aired in 1993 and is currently rated fifth on ABC2 – children’s programs 9:30am weekend slot. The filmmaker was awarded the Murray Forrest Achievement in Film Craft award at the Australian International Movie Convention on Thursday.

Sarah (aka The Seventh Match) featuring Mia Farrow, Dot Goes to Hollywood and Dot and Keeto are some of the feature films he has made. The animator was awarded the Order of Australia in 1995 for his contribution to the Australian film industry.

Veteran filmmaker, Yoram Gross, continues to create screen stories in a career that spans 64 years. His Art Alive series depicts a pre-schooler’s artwork – from a cardboard house to a cut out mouse, coming to life and interacting with its creator, which is currently screening on the Disney Channel.

He is also producing Professor Filutek – a colourful series of two-minute animated shorts based on the cartoon strips by Zbigniew Lengren. The short films will premiere at the 2011 Canberra Short Film Festival.

The documentary Blinky and Me, tells the story of Gross’ animated life, by New York filmmaker Tomasz Magierski. The film will premiere in Poland in October.

“I love this profession it makes me happy,” said Yoram Gross.