MUMBAI:  The Silver Salt Animation Festival,formed by a group of city media professionals is all set to begin in February 2010. Silver Salt Animation Festival’s primary aim is to ensure worldwide exhibition of animated short films.

The group behind the festival is media professionals like Jidnyesh Mahtre and Vidyadhar Sawant , Anvita Thapliyal, Upendra Sidhaye, Yogesh Raut, Nilendra Pore and Ashutosh Mishra. “We all know each other both professionally and personally and animation is a common interest. Silver Salt Animation Festival is an expression of that love for all things animated. It will be for the very first time that a competitive festival is being organized solely for the benefit of the short animation community.” Says Mahtre.

The 1st SSAF is designed to be as much a competition as it is an Artists Collective opening up a unique opportunity to bring together Animation Filmmakers, Enthusiasts, and Audience and Business Community under one Roof. The festival will travel to 5 Indian cities before crossing over to International borders. The first phase of the festival is slated to begin in February 2010 kicking off in Ahmedabad and traveling to Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru ending in Mumbai in a 2-day event, with the second day exclusively for an award ceremony where awards in 16 animation categories will be handed out to the winners.

The festival has managed to rope in animation industry big wigs like Shri V G Samant (director Hanuman) and FTII, Pune former dean (Television) Prof. Samar Nakhate as jury members and support. Anvita Thapliyal from the festival gives the credit to unexpected industry support. “ The response to the festival has been extraordinary till now. We have been flooded with enquiries on our social networking pages. The entries are coming in slowly but steadily as the word is getting around. I guess people were just waiting for a platform”