PRESS RELEASE Source: 13 December 2008

"How The Elephant Lost His Wings" and "Pot of Gold" have been chosen for a family screening event organised by National Geographic All Roads Film Project at the National Geographic Headquaters in Washington, USA, on 4 April 2009!

The two films are part of "The Tallest Story Competition" collection of Indian tribal animation films. The project
received support from the National Geographic All Roads Film Project to dub the films into five indigenous languages for screenings in the tribal regions where the stories originate.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
17 October 2008

The first collection of Indian tribal animation films “The Tallest Story Competition”, was screened in the Auditorium at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad on 17 October 2008.  Students at the Institute were interested to how five unique indigenous art styles had been adapted for the audio visual medium by a    small animation production company in Scotland called West Highland Animation, in collaboration with tribal artistic communities in Bastar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.   

Completed in 2006, “The Tallest Story Competition” used different animation techniques to bring the regional folk tales to life.   All the characters for the films were designed by tribal artists; 2D puppets were made for the Santal “Bonga” story and the Gond “Best of the Best”.  Lots of cel drawings were composited in the computer for “Pot of Gold”, while the direct animation technique of oil painting on glass was used for the “Song Bird”, a story from the Soara tribe of Southern Orissa.    The only 3D film in the collection required high end software to recreate and animate brass sculptures from Bastar for “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”.

Shekhar Mukherjee, Head of Animation at NID introduced Tara Douglas, one of the animators that worked on the films at the screening.  In keeping with the theme of a competition to find the favourite tribal story, she invited the audience to vote after the showing.  “Pot of Gold”, proved to be popular with students who were charmed by the simplicity of the Warli art style. 

Tara also gave a presentation on the work of the Adivasi Arts Trust, a UK based organisation that has distributed the films in Central India and continues to explore ways of involving tribal artists in animation and digital media projects.  Tara has been working with post graduate animation students at the Institute on an experimental animation project.   “This is the second time we have been associated with NID”, she explained.  “In July, the Trust collaborated with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and the Institute for a two week workshop to bring tribal artists into contact with young animators within the context of developing indigenous Indian animation films.  The workshop was very well received, and the Trust is hoping to make this a long term project.  As animation is such a time consuming activity, a sustained workshop programme is required to produce a new collection of tribal stories, and for that more animators will be needed to guide the tribal artists in the complicated animation process.  I hope that some of you will be involved in the workshops we are planning for the future”, she added.

Last year, the Trust received support from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust and Awards for All, UK.

Pick up your copy of “ The Tallest Story Competition” DVD today!

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
26 June 2008

“The Tallest Story Competition” DVD is now available for purchase at Tekson’s Bookshop in South Extension, New Delhi. 

This highly entertaining half hour collection of animated tribal stories from Central India is the first of its kind.  It has been dubbed into many languages and has been widely appreciated in many countries.  It is now available on the DVD in four different language versions – English, Hindi, Gaelic (with English subtitles) and each film in its own tribal language.  In addition, there is also a lot of fascinating background material about the five tribes and their stories, details on the making of the films and photographs from the creative workshops with tribal artists in rural India, and the young Scottish animators that brought the stories to life at West Highland Animation.

“The Tallest Story Competition” is a competition to find the most fantastic tribal story.  A funny cartoon character from Scotland called Norman invites children to vote for their favourite story.  Over 15,000 children in India and Scotland have already cast their votes, and a trophy was given as promised to the Gond tribe for their story in the series, “The Best of The Best”.  The other four stories are “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” from Chhattisgarh, “The Bonga” from the Santals of Jharkhand, “The Pot of Gold” from the Warlis of Maharashtra and “Song Bird” from the Soara tribe of Orissa.  Each film is very creative in its own right, using the unique artistic styles of the tribes adapted for  animation for the first time.

For more information on “The Tallest Story Competition” please see www.talleststory.com

The Adivasi Arts Trust is a small organisation that is working to continue animating tribal folk stories, and it is holding a workshop at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi for tribal artists and anyone interested in cultural animation.  For more information please see
www.adivasiartstrust.org

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
14 April 2008

“The Tallest Story Competition”,  a collection of five short animated stories from tribes of Central India, was screened by Tara Douglas of the Adivasi Arts Trust at Northfield School in Kohima, Nagaland on Monday 14 April 2008.  The innovative cartoon programme was produced by a small animation company in Scotland, lasts for half an hour and consists of fantastic stories from Bastar, Santal, Warli, Gond and Soara tribes.  Presented by a Scottish cartoon character dressed in a kilt, children are asked to choose the tallest story.  At Northfield, about 150 children from classes 8 and 9 were able to see the films and vote.  The Gond story of the “Best of the Best” was the preferred film amongst the students.   

The styles of all five films are very different.  For each one the indigenous art style of the tribe has been adapted for animation in a collaborative effort between Scottish animators and Indian tribal artists.  The films are charming and liked by everyone.  Tara spoke to the students about this animation project that aims to promote tribal culture to young people and asked the students if they would like to see an animation film from Nagaland.  The positive response was unanimous.  She explained that she is visiting Nagaland to do research for an animated Naga folk story.  She also complimented the story telling and artistic traditions of the Naga tribes and encouraged the students to listen closely for interesting stories,  also talking about what it involves to make animation.  “It is a fine tool for communication” she said, explaining that it can also be used for culture and education, not just advertising and computer games.
Tara thanked the teachers at Northfield for organising the event and her small team that has come with her to Nagaland on this occasion and she hopes to be able to come back again sometime and show the students the first animated Naga tale.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
12 April 2008

Tara Douglas from the Adivasi Arts Trust was invited to screen "The Tallest Story Competition" collection of tribal animation films at the Dream Cafe in Kohima, Nagaland on 12 April at 6.00pm. The audience consisted of about 20 young Naga youth from Kohima, and they all felt very inspired to see how animation can be used to promote culture in a way that makes it attractive to young people. Tara is visiting Nagaland on a field research trip to find out more about Naga art and culture for a five minute Nagaland animation film. She expressed the difficulty in finding support for cultural animation projects, and explained that animation is very hard work and requires alot of patience and dedication.

Thanks are due to Theja Meru who manages the Dream Cafe for organising the event.

From the Morung Express, 15 April 2008:

Tara Douglas, UK interacting with crowd before screening her short
animation film at Dream cafe. She also represents the Adivasi Arts Trust (www.adivasiartstrust.org), a small organization dedicated to preserving and
promoting Indian Indigenous (Tribal) Art and Culture through digital media and animation films.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
2 February 2008

Young people of British Asian descent are finding out about remote tribal art and culture from the subcontinent through a programme of five short animation films called “The Tallest Story Competition”.  Produced in Scotland by West Highland Animation, and distributed by the Adivasi Arts Trust, the films are immensely popular.  Set in the context of a story telling competition, the audience is supposed to vote and choose their favorite film, as a Trophy is to be given to the one that gets the most votes, promises the funny Scottish animated presenter, Norman.

The films were screened at the Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham on 2 February, an event supported by Awards for All lottery funding.  Tara Douglas, the animator and director of the only 3D film in the series, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” attended the event, and she was able to give an introduction to the project, explaining that children have been watching the films in India in five regional tribal languages and that nearly fifteen thousand votes have been counted to find the most popular story.  She also explained that the project was important as the Adivasi communities of artists are largely ignored in India and have become marginalized.  With modernization and changing lifestyles, even tribal children are losing interest in oral story telling, preferring to watch cartoons instead.  Through “The Tallest Story Competition” some of these stories can now be shared, and it is hoped that increased awareness and demand for traditional folk stories would be created, now that they are being adapted for the contemporary medium of animation.

The screening at the Midlands Art Centre received much appreciation. The most popular film proved to be the Gond story, "The Best of the Best" with over twenty votes. Following questions from the audience, Tara mentioned that the Trust is hoping to raise enough interest to continue this work and involve tribal artists in extended workshops to ensure their involvement in adapting their art for digital media. 

Tara introduces the films

The Midland Art Centre

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
1 February 2008

Children are now able to learn about culture through animation, as shown in “The Tallest Story Competition”, an interesting collection of five short tribal films from India, that is presently being screened in Birmingham.   With a total duration of half an hour in the format of a story telling competition, there are stories from remote parts of central India competing.  After the screening events at schools, Tara Douglas, the Secretary of a small organisation called the Adivasi Arts Trust dedicated to promoting Indian tribal culture, asks children to vote for their favourite.  On 1 February, children of St Johns Church of England Primary School voted to choose “Song Bird” as their favourite.  An obscure story based on a shaman and the belief in spirits of the ancestors, “Song Bird” comes from the little known Soara tribe of Southern Orissa.  The film from the Gonds of Madhya Pradesh called “The Best of the Best” took second place in the competition at St Johns, and after the screening children participated in a 3D model making workshop with Tara, who animated “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, the only 3D film in the series.

At first children wondered how they would be able to model the complex sculptures from Bastar using plasticene, but very soon they realised that it was not as complicated as it looked.  Tara explained that when the tribal artists make the sculptures out of brass, they first make the prototype using wax, which is a material similar to plasticene in that it can be manipulated easily into the required shape.  Details are added by rolling out long “sausages” of the material and they are placed as required to give the sculptures their distinctive look.

The event was enjoyed by everyone, and children came to know a little about some of the remote tribes of the subcontinent, and their excellent artwork.  “The Tallest Story Competition” is proving to be a popular experiment in creating cultural animation for children.

St John's Church of England Primary School

Springfield Primary School

Tara enjoys the workshops

Children were very involved

Absorbed in the workshop

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
1 February 2008

“The Tallest Story Competition”, a collection of five short tribal films from India, is touring in Birmingham and it aims to popularize Indian tribal culture and art.  The programme consists of stories from different communities of tribal artists, and their own indigenous styles have been adapted for the new medium of animation, in collaboration with animators from Scotland, making it a truly cross cultural project.

Produced by West Highland Animation in Scotland, the half hour cartoon programme is being distributed in UK by the Adivasi Arts Trust, a small organisation supported by Awards for All lottery funding.  The films have already been screened in India in five tribal languages and now British Asian children are watching the animation films with content that is culturally relevant to them.

Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust visited Springfield Primary School on 1 February, to screen the films for 90 children of Class 3.  They were asked to vote and choose their favourite of the five films;  It is the Tallest Story Competition, after all!  At Springfield, “Song Bird” the haunting tale from the Soara tribe of Southern Orissa was the most popular, with 35 votes, with “The Bonga” and “The Best of the Best” tied in second place, with 22 votes each. 
After the screenings, Tara held three short workshops for the different groups in modelling tribal characters from the 3D film in the collection “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”.  This was the film that she had animated, and she explained that it had taken a year to make.  “You must have a lot of patience to do animation”, she explained, “but it is magic to see your creations come to life”.

The children enjoyed the screenings and workshops and it is hoped that they will be able to enjoy more cultural animation films in the future.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
29 January 2008

The largest primary school in UK, Essex Primary, in the London borough of Newham, has been hosting screenings of “The Tallest Story Competition”, a collection of Indian tribal animation films. 
Tara Douglas, Secretary of the small Adivasi Arts Trust visited the school on 29th January, to show the films to Year 5, and then to develop some of the ideas and characters from the films in workshops with children afterwards. 

The films are traditional folk stories from India, with a difference:  They originate in the little known tribal communities, whose voices are yet to be heard.  “Storytelling was very important in tribal society”, Tara tells the children;  “Before tribal children started going to school, it is one of the ways they learnt things – about their society, culture, customs, how to manage in difficult situations and so on”.  Nowadays however, the oral storytelling tradition of these communities is in danger of dying out, as even tribal children are watching television.  This is why West Highland Animation decided that it would be a good idea to adapt some of the stories for the animation medium.  Norman is a Scottish cartoon character who presents the stories in the programme, and he invites the audience to vote to find the tallest story.  At Essex Primary school  the favorite film amongst students was “The Best of the Best”, an unsavoury tale of a mouse who is tricked into eating her own ear and tale, collecting 24 votes and closely followed by the romantic “Bonga” story. 

After the screening, children tried their hand at 3D modelling and drawing, in styles shown in the films.  The animation series will be part of Mother Tongue day at the school on 15 February, when children will display their hard efforts at creating tribal art.

The Trust would like to thank Awards for All for making it possible to share “The Tallest Story Competition” with children at Essex Primary School in this cultural extravaganza.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
25 January 2008

An interesting collection of Indian tribal animation films is doing the rounds of schools in East London at the moment.  “The Tallest Story Competition”, a half hour programme produced by West Highland Animation in Scotland in collaboration with tribal artists from India, is now getting distributed by a small organisation called the Adivasi Arts Trust, with support from Awards for All.  Children at Cherry Trees Special Needs School in the London borough of Tower Hamlets enjoyed the films on 25th January.  Tara visited the school, and the tribal cartoons were screened in two sittings.  Cherry Trees is a small school, and all the children were asked to vote for their favourite stories, in keeping with the theme of the competition to find the most unbelievable story.  14 votes were counted for the “Song Bird”, a weird and wonderful tale from Orissa, about the world of ghostly spirits and a shaman who can communicate with the ancestors.  The 3D film “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” and the “Best of the Best” tied in second place. 

The films are short enough to hold children’s attention for as long as it takes to tell the story, and each one has a moral point to it.  Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust explained to students that storytelling has always been very important within tribal communities, and before children in those areas started going to school stories such as these would important for teaching the children things. 

It is hoped that such initiatives will be able to continue, and that traditional stories will be preserved through new and appealing adaptations to the animation medium.  The Trust would like to thank Awards for All for making it possible to reach children at Cherry Trees school.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
24 January 2008

Children of multicultural schools such as William Davies Primary school in the London borough of Newham are discovering tribal art from India in “The Tallest Story Competition”, a venture undertaken by a small animation company in the Highlands of Scotland, collaborating with tribal artists from Central India.  The half hour programme consists of five unique stories brought to life by adapting indigenous art styles for animation using computer software. 

“It took several years to complete and probably involved about fifty people”, explained Tara Douglas, the Secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust which is distributing the programme in schools with support from Awards for All.  She also explained that the programme had been dubbed into five regional tribal languages and screened to 10,000 children in India. 

Although all the films are incredibly popular with children, at William Davies Primary School on 24 January, the favorite film was “Song Bird” a rather obscure story about a shaman and ghostly spirits of ancestors.  At each screening event, children are asked to vote for the tallest story, in keeping with the theme for the competition.  The first runner up was “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” with 8 votes. 

After the screening, children were excited to try and make their own tribal art in the creative workshop that followed.  It is always surprising how many wonderful plasticene elephants get made, and how good students are at the elaborate patterning of Gond art.  The animation films are proving to be a very useful and enjoyable tool for learning about cultures.

3D model making workshop

Tribal elephants at
North Beckton Primary School

The students were proud
of their creations

Tribal characters in
plasticene

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
23 January 2008

Students of North Beckton Primary School in the London borough of Newham have been discovering obscure Indian tribal art.  Presented to them in a collection of five very lively animated films, each one bringing a different yet totally authentic tribal art style to life using computer software.  “The Tallest Story Competition” is a cross cultural venture produced by a small animation company in Scotland called West Highland Animation in collaboration with Indian tribal artists and it is now being distributed in schools by the Adivasi Arts Trust, an organisation dedicated to promoting and preserving little known cultures from the sub continent.

On 23 January, Tara Douglas, the Secretary of the Trust screened the films to all the children of class three.  This was followed by an introductory creative workshop in which the children could have a go at doing some tribal art sculpting of their own, based on the characters of the 3D film in the series, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”.  Although many of the students felt it was a very big challenge, they were delighted to see how they could make fine sculptures, which, being made from plasticene would also work for animation. 

In keeping with the theme of the competition, the children were asked to vote on slips handed out to them for their favourite film.  The spooky ghost story from the Soara tribals of Orissa was the preferred film today, with over 20 votes, and “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” was the runner up.

The Trust has been able to conduct this work with support from Awards for All, and it is proving to be much appreciated in the multi cultural schools of London as a way of making education both fun and interesting.  This is reflected in all the questions asked by the children about the tribal people and a project that really does cross cultural boundaries.  

Tribal art workshop at Roe Green

One of the teachers helps the
children with their modelling

A child with his first tribal artwork

Tara encourages the students

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
21 January 2008

A collection of five short animated tribal stories from India are receiving considerable appreciation in multi cultural schools in London at the moment.  With support from Lottery funded Awards for All, a small organisation called the Adivasi Arts Trust is visiting schools and screening the films.  As part of the programme, children are asked to vote and choose their favourite of the five stories in the bid to find the winner of “The Tallest Story Competition”.

On Monday 21 January, approximately 400 children enjoyed the cultural animation experience at Roe Green Primary School.  The hall was packed to its maximum capacity twice over, and the votes were collected by the handful.  98 children voted for “The Best of the Best”, the most popular of the films, while 77 voted for “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”. 

Not only did the children like voting, but they also had plenty to say about the films.  When Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust asked one child why the Best of the Best was the best, she was told that the unforeseen ending was appealing.  One of the teachers at the school, Mrs. Bindu Rai, explained that the story has certain common elements seen in fables from other cultures.  It was something that they could understand, important, as children like to “get it”.  Everyone admired the colourful and unique artwork of the five short films. 

Tara went on to hold a short workshop with one of the classes around the theme of the tribal stories, and students were instructed to have a go at doing some tribal art of their own, using techniques seen in the films. 
She was most impressed by the enthusiasm and general cultural awareness that the school encourages in its students, and by the confident and engaged responses from the children.  Special  thanks are due to  all the teachers organising the event  so successfully at Roe Green Primary School and for the support they have shown the Trust for the continuation its work in culture.   

Everyone is absorbed
in the workshop

Tribal characters from the film

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
18 January 2008

Primary schools in East London boroughs are finding out about exotic cultures from India in “The Tallest Story Competition”.  On 18 January, children of Upton Cross Primary school saw the programme, a collection  of five short animated films of traditional folk tales from remote rural areas of India.  Each tale has a charm of its own, as five different indigenous art styles come to life in this truly cross cultural project, created as a joint venture between tribal artists in India, and young animators in Scotland.  It was produced by West Highland Animation (www.westhighlandanimation.co.uk) and is now being distributed in UK by a small organisation called Adivasi Arts Trust, with support from the lottery funded Awards for All scheme.

Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust, has been visiting schools and Asian cultural centres in London.  As part of the programme, she gives an introduction to the tribes represented in the films, and after the film screening, children are asked to vote and help choose the most popular film; this is, after all, a competition to find the tallest story.  Anything is possible in animation, a medium ideally suited for telling truly imaginative fantasy tales of the impossible.   The films encourage children to look at and compare different art styles, and the workshops that usually follow the screening give them an opportunity to try some of the famous 3D sculpting from Bastar and the intricate Gond style of patterning as seen in the films for themselves.  Incidentally, it is the Gond film collection “The Best of the Best” that received the most votes today at Upton Cross Primary School, and everyone is hoping to see more of these intriguing animated tribal stories from India.

Drawing workshop at
Upton Cross Primary School

Children are learning how
to do tribal art

Exploring creativity in a
multi-cultural context

A tribal god modelled
by a primary school student

Happy children at
Godwin Junior school

Tribal elephants at Godwin Junior

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
17 January 2008

Tribal art is coming to life in schools in East London.  On 17 January, 60 children at Godwin’s Junior in Newham borough enjoyed the half hour of tribal stories produced by West Highland Animation and screened by the Adivasi Arts Trust. 
All children delight in the magic of animation, and with traditional storytelling vanishing into history, why not adapt the original tribal stories from remote communities for animation where they will get a new life with our young generation? 

The Tallest Story Competition has been a challenging cross cultural project involving five different groups of tribal artists in Central India and a handful of animators in the Scottish Highlands.  Despite the restrictions of language and distance, it was possible to make this series of animated tales, and it is interesting to see the enthusiastic response they are receiving in multi cultural schools in the United Kingdom, thanks to support from Awards for All.

Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust is visiting schools to tell students about the tribal people back in India.  She collects the votes for the favorite films in keeping with the theme of the competition, and then children try their hand at doing some tribal artwork of their own.  At Godwin Junior School, the preferred film was “The Best of the Best” a Gond tribal story about a bird and a mouse which got 20 votes, followed by “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” from Bastar with 12 votes. 

A trophy was awarded at the Inverness Film Festival to a Gond artist who had come over especially for “The Best of the Best” .  It is anticipated that support will be forthcoming to continue this work and bring out a second series of animation films of stories from lesser known communities. 

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
16 January 2008

“The Tallest Story Competition” is a collection of five animated tribal stories that is becoming very popular in schools in East London.  On 16 January 2008 it was screened to 240 children at Elmhurst Primary School in the London Borough of Newham by a small organisation called the Adivasi Arts Trust, with financial support from Awards for All.  The Trust has been established to preserve and promote Indian tribal art and culture for the young generations, as with modern life, old story telling traditions are dying out.  So why not to adapt the old stories to a new medium, one that is enjoyed by children of all cultures?  Animation crosses all boundaries of culture and language, and the popularity of these films is obvious, when the votes are counted to find the best story, in keeping with the theme of the competition.    The most popular film today was “The Best of the Best” with 41 votes, followed by “The Bonga” in second place with 24. 

All the films are very different, each one show cases a different tribal art style that has been adapted through a cross cultural collaboration between tribal artists in India and Scottish animators.  The winning film, “The Best of the Best” tells a rather unsavoury tale of how an arrogant little mouse who felt that nothing was good enough for her was finally tricked into eating her own ear and tail!  There must be a moral to this story…

Children at Elmhurst participated in a tribal art workshop after the screening and for the first time they all tried their hand at making some tribal sculptures of their own using plasticene.  Tara Douglas, Secretary of the Trust and animator of the 3D film in the series called “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” explained that once you had found a suitably good story, the first step in making animation is to design the characters.  Only when you have a good character ready, do you have something to animate.  The Elephant film was made entirely in the computer however, as this was the only option available to maintain the metallic look of the original sculptures.

A student of Godwin Junior School
with her model

The workshop at Godwin Junior School

Children at Elmhurst enjoy
"The Tallest Story Competition"

Having a go at making
tribal sculptures

Dr Jyotindra Jain

Santal dance band

Ink drawing by Subhas Vyam

Painting by Durga Bai

PRESS RELEASE Source: 23 September 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition” has been screened in schools in Bastar in the Halbi language for the past nine days.  It is appropriate at this time of worship dedicated to Shri Ganesha, the remover of Obstacles, that the film from Bastar is about the first Elephant, and how he lost his wings. 

The programme is a collection of five tribal stories from different artistic Adivasi communities in Central India.  The stories are presented by cartoon character Norman, from Scotland.  Each film is just five minutes long.  The whole programme lasts for half an hour, and it was produced by a small animation company in Scotland, called West Highland Animation, in collaboration with tribal artists in India. 

Animator and coordinator of the project in India, Tara Douglas from Scotland, has been deeply involved in the project right from the beginning.  She went on to animate the first story, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, inspired by the famous brass sculptures of Bastar, and she has been back in Bastar for the screening programme in schools, explaining that the only reason to dub the films into the Halbi language was so that the people of Bastar would be able to enjoy these films that have cultural relevance to them, in their own language. 
Tara is also the secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust, a small organisation recently established in UK to promote tribal art and culture of India through digital media.  The Trust is carrying out these screening activities in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, and Jharkhand, with help from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust in UK.

“The Tallest Story Competition” aims to promote tribal art and culture.  As part of the programme the children have been trying to decide which is the best story.  All the votes will count towards finding out which film will receive an award at the Inverness Film Festival in Scotland.  Tara is travelling to Scotland in November with two tribal artists.  One of them is a Gond  artist from Bhopal and the other is from the Gadwaa brass casters of Bastar.   One of them will receive the award on behalf of his community.
 
At both the Government Boys Hostel in Kesarpal and at the Rani Durgawati Kanya Ashram in Bhanpuri the favorite film was “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”.  When the films were shown to Master Artist Shri Jaidev Baghel from Bhelvapada he also preferred this film above the others, which is not surprising as the film celebrates his art form and he has lent his voice in Halbi for the tribal god character. 

At a meeting with Smti Lata Usendi, the Hon. Minister of Department of Woman and Child Development, Tara requested support in Chhattisgarh for more animation films in the future that promote the art and culture of Bastar.

Children of the Shishu Mandir School in Kondagaon watching "The Tallest Story Competition"	Tara and the students of the Shishu Mandir School

PRESS RELEASE  

Source:
22 September 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition” has been screened in schools in Bastar in the Halbi language for the past nine days.  The programme is a collection of five tribal stories from different artistic Adivasi communities in Central India.  The stories are presented by cartoon character Norman, from Scotland.  Each film is just five minutes long.  The whole programme lasts for half an hour, and it was produced by a small animation company in Scotland, called West Highland Animation, in collaboration with tribal artists in India.  Animator and coordinator of the project in India, Tara Douglas from Scotland, has been deeply involved in the project right from the beginning.  She went on to animate one of the five films – the first one, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, inspired by the famous brass sculptures of Bastar.  She has been back in Bastar for the screening programme in schools and explains that the only reason to dub the films into the Halbi language was so that the people of Bastar would be able to enjoy these films that have cultural relevance to them, in their own language. 
Tara is also the secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust, a small organisation recently established in UK to promote tribal art and culture of India through digital media.  The Trust is carrying out these screening activities in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, and
“The Tallest Story Competition” aims to promote tribal art and culture.  On 22 September the team visited The Saraswati Shishu Vidhya Mandir school in Kondagaon, where the favorite film was the romantic Santali story “The Bonga”.  In this story, Baijal the flute player almost disappears forever into the magical world of the Bonga spirits.  The artistic style of the film was inspired by the Chitrokar artists of Jharkhand and the story telling scroll paintings they make for the Santali people.

The films were also screened at the Saathi Round Table Gurukul in Kumharpada, where the young students are the children of local artisans.   Tara, who animated the film from Bastar, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” became very excited by the collection of brass and iron sculptures in the Saathi showroom, and expressed a desire to make more animation films inspired by local art.   The Adivasi Arts Trust, the small organisation based in UK that is conducting this tour to promote the cartoon films Bastar with support from The Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, will be associated with Saathi for future work in promoting tribal art and culture.

Children are captivated by animation of the brass scuptures of Bastar	Students watching the animation films

PRESS RELEASE  

Source:
21 September 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition” is the first collection of tribal stories to have become animated.  Produced by West Highland Animation, a small company in Scotland that has been making animation films of traditional Scottish stories for two decades, “The Tallest Story Competition” has involved tribal artists in the design of the films. 

The cartoon films are now back in Bastar, and they are being screened in local schools until 23 September in Halbi language. The total duration of the series is half an hour and it consists of five short films.  As part of the programme, students are asked to choose their favorite film.  All the votes will count towards selecting the story that will receive an award at the Inverness Film Festival in Scotland on 16 November.  The film from Bastar “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” is the common favorite at screenings in Bastar, and Mr. Rajendra Baghel, a brass sculptor from Kondagaon, has been invited to Scotland to attend the film festival and represent his community of artists that inspired the film.

“The Tallest Story Competition” has two aims: One is to promote tribal art and culture, and the other is to encourage the use of local languages.Mr. Harihar Vaishnav has been instrumental in producing the Halbi language version of the cartoon series.  He lent his voice to the main character, the animated presenter and comedian from Scotland, Norman MacLean, while other members of his family and community provided the voices for all the other characters in Halbi language.   This is surely the first time children of Bastar are seeing cartoons that are culturally relevant to them in their mother tongue.

On 21 September 2007 the small team, that included Rajendra Baghel and animator from Jagdalpur, Mr. Nagdanteshwar,  visited the Government Primary School in Bazarpada where the Headmaster, Mr. Mahesh Pandey kindly invited them to have a screening programme.  At these events, sponsored by The Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust in UK, Tara introduces the project in English, while Harihar Vaishnav  explains it to the children in Halbi.    In the afternoon they visited the Government Middle Secondary School of Teshilpada, and at both schools “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” was the chosen favorite.

"How The Elephant Lost His Wings"
is getting the most votes in Bastar

PRESS RELEASE Source:  20 September 2007

“How The Elephant Lost His Wings ”is getting the most votes in Bastar as the favorite film in the tribal animation series “The Tallest Story Competition”.

“The Tallest Story Competition” was produced in Scotland.  It took two years to complete, and more than a hundred people have been involved in making it, from researchers, script writers, animators, sound engineers, Indian tribal artists, voice over artists, editors and technicians. 

The total duration of the series is half an hour and it consists of five short films from five tribal communities of Central India.  The first of the films is “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, a local story, with a style inspired by the gadwaa brass casters of Kondagaon.  The characters were designed by renowned artists Ful Singh, Panchuram Sagar, Jaidev Baghel and Sushil Sakhuja.  Animator Tara Douglas from UK has recreated the original sculptures using high tech 3D computer software, and brought them to life.  This painstaking process took over a year to complete, mostly sitting day after day alone in a room in Delhi, though the film had to be completed in London, when the computer broken down beyond repair,  from extensive use in summer temperatures above 40 degrees. 

Harihar Vaishnav and his family has had an important part to play in creating the Halbi version of the series, as they have lent their voices to the characters of the films.  So if you recognise the voice of the Scottish presenter, Norman, now you know why.

“The Tallest Story Competition” has two aims: One is to promote tribal art and culture, and the other is to encourage the use of local languages.  The first version of the programme was made in Gaelic, which is the indigenous language of Scotland.  With only 20,000 speakers left, this language is under threat of extinction.  “The Tallest Story Competition” has now been dubbed into five Indian tribal languages, including Halbi.   This is probably the first time children of Bastar are enjoying animation in their own language, thanks to support from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust.

On 20 September 2007 Tara visited the Government Middle and Higher Secondary Schools of Aadachhepada. She introduces herself in English, and dedicated local coordinator Harihar Vaishnav  explains in Halbi.    As part of the programme, they  are asking the children  to select their favorite film in keeping with the them of the competition, The students generally prefer the film “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” above the others because they are amazed to see the sculptures come alive in this magical tale,   and they like the simple message of the film.  “The Pot of Gold”, from the Warli Adivasis of Maharashtra is also easily understood by the students.

A student in Aadachhepada explains why she liked the film	The brass scuptor Rajendra Baghel watches scuptures come to life in animation

PRESS RELEASE Source: 19 September 2007

Children of Sonipal School watching "Song Bird"

If you do not believe that elephants can fly, you have not seen the animation film “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”.

Through the computer technology, the brass sculptures of Bastar have been brought to life, proving that through the magic of animation, anything is possible.  This short animation film was produced by Tara Douglas, a single animator, who sat day after day for over a year in front of a computer giving it instructions by clicking the mouse.  It took three months to process the information, known as rendering.    At the time, she was not sure if it would be possible, but the film was completed and it is now receiving a lot of appreciation in Bastar, where “The Tallest Story Competition”, a collection of five short stories from tribal India, animated through different techniques, is being screened in schools.  This programme will continue until 23 September. 

“The Tallest Story Competition” came about through the vision of Leslie MacKenzie, the director of a small animation company in the Highlands of Scotland.  Leslie has been making animation films of Scottish folklore for many years, and she decided it was time to explore other minority cultures through this medium.  She visited India for two research trips with a small team, to find out what they could about tribal culture.  During this time five stories and five unique art styles were chosen to bring to life through animation;  In India, little is known about what is involved in making animation.  Each frame has to be created, and that usually means twenty four separate drawings for each second of film.  It is hard to find someone with the patience for this work, and is even harder to find the financial support.

“The Tallest Story Competition” has two aims: One is to promote tribal art and culture, and the other is to encourage the use of local languages.  The first version of the programme was made in Gaelic, which is the indigenous language of Scotland.  With only 20,000 speakers left, this language is under threat of extinction.  “The Tallest Story Competition” has now been dubbed into five Indian tribal languages, including Halbi.   This is probably the first time children of Bastar are enjoying animation in their own language.

On 19 September 2007 Tara visited Sonipal Middle School and Khorkhosa Middle School, and with the help of local co ordinator Harihar Vaishnav the films were screened with a DVD player and projector.  The children appreciated the films and wanted more.  The screening of the films in Bastar was made possible with support from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust.

Student of Sonipal School explains why she chose her favorite film	The students of Sonipal School loved "The Tallest Story Competition"

Students of the Government Modle School in Pharasgaon	Students voting for their favorite film	Tara with students of the High School in Lanjoda	About 500 children voted for their favorite film in Lanjoda

PRESS RELEASE

Source: 
18 September 2007

Did you know that in the beginning, the first Elephant had wings?  Or that there is  a world of Bongas?  That devotion to God can bring untold wealth, or that once the bird and the mouse were friends, and  that ghosts do exist?  These are the themes of the five animated stories in “The Tallest Story Competition”, a project that was produced in Scotland by a small company called West Highland Animation.   

Children of Bastar are now able to watch these tribal stories in animation because Tara Douglas, secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust and one of the team that created this programme, is visiting Bastar with a DVD player, speakers and projector. Together with dedicated tribal researcher and folklorist, Harihar Vaishnav they are going to several schools a day in the area, for screening programmes that will continue until 23 September. 

These are probably the first tribal stories from India to have become animated.  “The Tallest Story Competition” now exists in five regional languages, so children of Bastar are able to enjoy the cartoons in Halbi.  Furthermore, one of the films, called “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, has local relevance, as it has been inspired by the famous brass sculptures of Kondagaon. 

The other four stories, animated by teams in India and Scotland, are from Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.  The project took two years to complete, and involved many artists, animators, technicians, musicians and voice artists. 

To encourage participation, the children are asked to vote for their favorite films after the screenings, and to explain what they liked about the films.  On 18 September 2007 the small team went Pharasgaon to screen the films at the Government Model High Secondary School.  The favorite films were the “Bonga” story from Jharkhand and “How The Elephant Lost His Wings” from Bastar.  In Lanjoda “How the Elephant Lost His Wings” was the preferred film at the screening held at the Government High School for about 500 students;  A similar preference was show at the  Balak Ashram school in Bunagaon where many of the children had never seen animation films before.     

The screening programme will continue until 23 September.  From Chhattisgarh, Tara will travel to Madhya Pradesh to screen the films for Gondi artists and children with help from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust in UK.

A student talks about the films	The films are screened at the High School in Dahikonga	High School students voting for their favorite film

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
17 September 2007

Tribal cartoons are reaching schools in Bastar, for the first time in  “The Tallest Story Competition”, a collection of five short animation films based on tribal stories, art and culture from five different Adivasi communities of India.  Tara Douglas, one of animators involved in making these cartoon films, has come from Scotland to the Bastar district  to show the films in local schools in Halbi language; This is surely the first time that children of Bastar are seeing animation in Halbi.  

Every day she visits several schools with the help of tribal researcher, translator and local coordinator Harihar Vaishnav; With a DVD player, speakers and projector, and as long as there is electricity, the show can go on. 

One of the five stories, called “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, has been inspired by the famous brass sculptures of Kondagaon.  Characters designed by local artisans have been recreated in the computer by Tara, and brought to life using complex 3D software; to tell a myth of how, long ago, elephants had wings.  The other four stories, animated by teams in India and Scotland, are from Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.  A small Scottish animation company called “West Highland Animation” that has been making Scottish cultural animation films for children for twenty years was able to convince organisations in Scotland that it would be possible to make animated stories from tribes of India, and in this way promote tribal art and culture through a form that appeals to the young generation.  The project took two years to complete, and involved many artists, animators, technicians, musicians and voice artists. 

On 17 September 2007 the small team went to Baniagaon, Dahikonga and Barakanera to show the films in government secondary schools.     To encourage participation, the children are asked to vote for their favorite films after the screenings, and to explain what they liked about the films. 

In Baniagoan Government Higher Secondary School, over two hundred children voted, choosing the Bastar animation film as their favorite.  A similar result was had from the Government Higher Secondary School in Dahikonga, but in the Government Higher Secondary School,  Barakanera The Gondi film, called “Best of the Best”, was preferred.   

The screening programme will continue until 23 September.  From Chhattisgarh, Tara will travel to Madhya Pradesh to screen the films for Gondi artists and children, on behalf of the Adivasi Arts Trust, and with help from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
16 September 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition”, a collection of five tribal stories from Central India that have been adapted for animation for children, is currently being screened in the Bastar and Jagdalpur districts of Chhattisgarh.

Tara Douglas from The Adivasi Arts Trust, and the director of the first of the five short films, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, a story inspired by the art of the brass sculptors of Kondagaon, is visiting schools in the area with a projector and DVD player.  With the help of  tribal researcher and local coordinator Harihar Vaishnav she is screening the films to the children in Halbi language.  This is the first time Adivasi children are seeing their own stories in animation, in their own languages. 

“The Tallest Story Competition”  is  produced by a small animation company in Scotland called West Highland Animation, in collaboration with tribal artists from five states of India.   The collection includes tales from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well as the one from Chhattisgarh.  The purpose of the project is to promote tribal art and culture through a form that appeals to the young generation.

On 16 September 2007 the small team went to Portanar where the films were shown  in the panchayat hall at 2pm.  As part of the programme the children who have watched the films are asked to vote for their favorite. 

In Portanar, nearly sixty children voted, and the preferred film was revealed to be “How the Elephant Lost His Wings”.  This result was not unexpected, as the story has a strong local flavour, and a practical message to be attentive -  for if one is careless like the elephant in the story, one may lose ones freedom.

The next screening was held at Dimarpal Ashram, a residential school for tribal children.  At that school, the children liked both the “Pot of Gold”, with an appropriate message of the reward for devotion,  and “How the Elephant Lost His Wings”.  Shri Dharmpal Saini kindly expressed his appreciation of the efforts of those in Scotland for making the films and  bringing them to the children of Bastar.

The screening programme will continue in the Bastar and Jagdalpur districts until 23 September with support from The Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, ending with an event in Kondagaon. 

screening for brass casting artists in Bhelvapada

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
15 September 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition”, has arrived in Bastar District.  This collection of five short animation films are tribal stories Central India that have been adapted for animation for children.

Tara Douglas, the director of the first of the five short films, “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, a story inspired by the art of the brass sculptors of Kondagaon, is The area with a projector and DVD player.  Today the films were screened for the first time in Bhelvapada village for the brass sculpting artists whose work has been brought to life with complex 3D software in the computer.  

Tara explained how she worked for over a year to make this five minute film.  It all began in 2003 when she visited Bastar with a small team from Scotland to research the lost wax brass sculptures of Kondagaon.   At that time they met the artists, recorded music and familiarized themselves with the brass casting process.  They also met Harihar Vaishnav, who also became involved in the project, and has provided his voice for the animated presenter in the programme, in the Halbi language version which is currently being screened in Chhattisgarh.   

“The Tallest Story Competition”  is  produced by a small animation company in Scotland called West Highland Animation, in collaboration with tribal artists from five states of India.   The collection includes tales from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well as the one from Chhattisgarh.  The purpose of the project is to promote tribal art and culture through a form that appeals to the young generation.

The films were screened in the home of Rajendra Baghel, himself an accomplished sculptor.  In the audience was Ful Singh, the artist who designed one of the two main characters in the animated film.    As part of the programme, the audience is asked to vote for their favorite film, and amongst the brass casters of Bhelvapada, the favorite film was, unsurprisingly, the one from Bastar.  They were clearly fascinated to see their own art form coming to life in this way. 

“The Tallest Story Competition” will be screened for a week in schools in the Bastar and Jagdalpur districts by The Adivasi Arts Trust, with help from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust.

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
26 July 2007

Staff at INTACH attend the screening	Captived by tribal cartoon films

On 26 July “The Tallest Story Competition” (Tales of the Tribes) was screened at INTACH, New Delhi. 
An interesting collection of five short stories and artistic styles from tribes of Central India that have been adapted for animation, “The Tallest Story Competition” is a new idea that explores ways of presenting traditional culture to the young generation through a medium that they can relate to, while simultaneously developing a look in animation that is more authentic to Indian artistic practice.

Anita Sharma of the tribal department at INTACH introduced the screening event. 
Before showing the  collection of five uniquely different animation films in Hindi, Tara Douglas, one of the animation directors on the project, spoke of the aims of the cross cultural venture.  Through this series, it is hoped that attention will be drawn to the vast resource of artistic styles and mythology in India, and also the need to preserve minority culture before it disappears.  This need has been addressed in Scotland by West Highland Animation, where support for the production of the films was granted by cultural bodies, and it is hoped that further support will forthcoming in India to continue this work, and to involve indigenous artists in workshops in digital media.  Through such activities more people will come to know of Indian tribal culture and the artists will be encouraged to continue to express themselves through artistic means.

The audience consisting of about 25 staff of INTACH were invited to vote for their favourite film in keeping of the theme of the competition.  The favourite films at this screening were revealed to be the “Best of the Best”, “Pot of Gold” and “How the Elephant Lost His Wings”. 
With support from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, Tara will be travelling to four states of India to screen the films to tribal audiences. When all the planned screenings have been held  in UK and in India,  all votes will be added up to find the favourite film and an  award will be given to two tribal artists attending the Inverness Film Festival in November 2007, with assistance from The Indian Council for Cultural Relations. 

The North Eastern tribes were not represented in this series but it is hoped that research into the rich heritage of tribal stories and art from that region will lead to the next series in the Tales of the Tribes.    

PRESS RELEASE

Source:
10 July 2007

“The Tallest Story Competition” series of tribal animation films from India was screened as part of the Nilgiri’s Advasi Trust fundraising event held at Crawlboys Farm, Wiltshire, on 10 July 2007. 

Five unique tribal art styles and stories from Central India have been brought to life in “The Tallest Story Competition”,  in the  search for the most fantastic story for children.  Produced by West Highland Animation, this series is a collaborative effort between Scottish animators and Indian tribal artists.  The half hour programme has been widely screened to Gaelic speaking children in the Scottish Highlands, who have responded with a series of their own  animated stories created through workshops organised by West Highland Animation. 

The Adivasi Arts Trust, a recently established organisation dedicated to promoting Indian tribal art through digital media, will be distributing the series to the tribal communities of India with support from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust in UK. Through association with The Nilgiri’s Adivasi Trust,  a charity that works for the benefit of tribal people of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu,  it is hoped that as many tribal people as possible will be able to enjoy the films, the first collection of  Indian tribal stories to have become animated.   

The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the tribal communities of India.   Accomplished writer, poet and tribal enthusiast,  Professor Randhir Khare had been invited to address the audience of approximately 40 at the home of Rosaleen Mulji, secretary of the Nilgiri’s Adivasi Trust, and host of  the event. 

Randhir captivated his listeners with stories he had collected during his sojourn with tribal people that explained the mythological origin of things.   The screening of the animation films that followed complimented the theme of tribal story telling, and Tara Douglas, director of “How The Elephant Lost His Wings”, (one of the films), explained how the project, conceived in Scotland where there is support for minority culture, aimed to increase awareness of the need to preserve minority culture in India, and to explore ways of making it attractive to the young generation through a media that they relate to.  With its universal appeal, animation crosses cultural divisions;  through the multiple dimensions of audio and vision, children are exposed to little known indigenous art styles and culture.   Tara spoke of immanent plans to return to  India and revisit  the tribal communities with a DVD projector to screening the films in regional tribal languages  in schools, and of her hope that “Tallest Story Competition” would encourage further cross cultural multimedia projects.

The audience at the screening

Contact information:
Dr. Stephen Hughes, SOAS
sh37@soas.ac.uk

Dr. Michael Yorke
mike@upsidefilms.co.uk

Tara Douglas
tarapurnima@hotmail.com

The screning event at SOAS

Tara Douglas and Leslie MacKenzie
at the launch