Animators Guild of India

ABOUT US

The 5th edition of the Animators Guild India Fest - AGIF2026 is here!

AGIF was created with the express desire to showcase a variety of animation content being produced throughout the world.

The audience for our film festival are a diverse and discerning group from the field of creative arts, games, vfx, comics, XR and design. Originality and out of the box sensibilities are valued for submissions.

The films will be judged by a panel of industry experts, creative mavericks, designers, filmmakers, producers who know and love their subjects. Films and projects that bring a fresh idea, perspective, technique into the fray. Films and projects that you can't seem to pause, films and projects that give you reason for pause.

This will be the second year for the Motion Design Awards which we added last year!

POWERED BY

OFFICIAL SELECTION

BEST STUDENT ANIMATED FILM

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM (UNDER 45 MIN)

BEST ANIMATION FOR COMMERCIAL USE (ADS / PROMOS / IDENTS / SOCIAL AWARENESS FILMS)

BEST ART DIRECTION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR ANIMATION

BEST ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO

BEST AUGMENTED REALITY / VIRTUAL REALITY / IMMERSIVE MEDIA CONTENT

BEST TITLE SEQUENCE (FILM / TV / WEB / OTT)

BEST ANIMATED SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT (NEW ⭐)

SELECTION CRITERIA

Selection:

1. The Selection Committee from AGI will decide the Official Selections for each category.

2. The Official Selections will be announced on the notification date via FilmFreeway and on our Instagram page. They will be uploaded on our Website shortly after.

3. Official Selections will be screened at the Event.

4. In the event your film gets selected to be part of the competition program, you will be contacted to share a screening HD file format of the film online.

5. All films must be presented in Original Language and must be subtitled in English (if in alternate language). Subtitling expenses are the sole responsibility of the film’s Producer.

6. The Festival will use all materials for promotional purposes and in order to compile the Festival catalogue. The Festival bears no responsibility for published inaccuracies in the original submission materials.

7. The Festival is not obligated to supply a reason as to why a film has not been selected as part of the Festival competition.

8. The awards ceremony (online or offline) will take place on the last day of the festival (online or offline). If possible, a film representative (the Director or the Producer) of the awarded films shall be present for the ceremony (online or offline). If it is not possible for a representative to be present, the Festival will kindly request that they make a short video-taped acceptance speech to be played during the online playback of the award ceremony.

Rules and Terms:

1. There is a fee to submit your film for consideration to the Animators Guild India Fest 2026. Any entry, animated film or music video, including computer-generated animation and combinations of live-action, technology, AR, VR, that are completed on or after January 1st 2025 onwards, can participate. (category specific exceptions, if any, are mentioned under each submission category)

2. For pre-selection and selection purposes, the entries must be submitted through FilmFreeway.com

3. The selection committee will be the only authorised festival staff to have access to the film files.

4. All the information required of you from the submission portal should be fulfilled, that being:
• Contact information (name, phone number, and email),
• Credits,
• Specifications,
• Synopsis,
• Screenings and awards,
• Director’s biography and filmography,
• Film stills and poster

5. All films that are not in the English language should have English subtitling, otherwise, they will not be considered.

Technicalities after the selection:

1. All the accepted and rejected films shall be informed about their participation in the festival by the [Date of announcements].

2. In the event your film gets selected to be part of the competition program, the authorized film distributor is required to send a screening HD file format of the film online. The specifics of the required screening format will be sent together with the email announcing the selection of the film.

3. All files should be sent digitally, and the due date for all materials is to be set in the official email.

4. All films must be presented in Original Language and must be subtitled in English (if not otherwise specified). Subtitling expenses are the sole responsibility of the film’s Producer.

5. The Festival will use all materials for promotional purposes and in order to compile the Festival catalogue. The Festival bears no responsibility for published inaccuracies in the original submission materials.

6. The awards ceremony will take place on the last day of the festival. If possible, a film representative (the Director or the Producer) of the awarded films shall be present for the ceremony done online. If it is not possible for a representative to be present, the Festival will kindly request that he or she makes a short videotaped acceptance speech to be played during the online award ceremony.

Press and Marketing:

1. All the images, stills, trailers, making of, and sketches, will be used as promotional material on our social media channels, metaverse and website.

2. If your film gets selected, the festival has a right to use the snippets / complete / parts of the film / trailer for promotional purposes on the AGIF Website, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp. By accepting the present regulations, the entrant authorizes AGI Fest to reproduce and broadcast an extract of the films selected for the Festival free of charge and for a period of one year (starting from the date of the selection announcement). They will only be used for the promotion of the Festival and in TV and web programmes, interviews and reports.

Rights and Jurisdiction:

1. Once a film has been selected and invited to participate in the festival, said selected film cannot be withdrawn from the festival program.

2. The festival does not pay screening fees for any film in the program, being that short, feature, live action, AR, VR, commercial films or any of its categories.

3. The participation of each entrant in the Official Selection confers on the organisers the right to present the work in full at a public screening for commercial / non-commercial purposes, i.e. screenings during the Festival, associated other festivals and other uses granted under the present regulations. For instance collections such as ‘Best of AGIF2025' or ‘AGIF25 Rising Stars’ etc.

4. Each entrant declares to be the author or rights owner of the submitted film(s) and to own all the literary, dramatic and musical rights guaranteeing AGI against any claims, conflicts and legal action concerning the presentation of the submitted projects. Information supplied at the time of registration will be used in various bilingual publications and may be translated or modified.

Awards and Prizes:

• The jury will choose to award 15 categories with a category winner in each along with special recognition for 3 finalists, from a selection of global submissions. • The winners shall be awarded a trophy, a digital certificate and goody bag*. • 1 special award - the AGI Pick of the Year - will be selected by the festival team. Winner shall be awarded a trophy, digital certificate and a goody bag.* • 1 special award category, Rising Star reserved for rising talent from India only. Winner in the category will be awarded a trophy, digital certificate, goody bag, and a prize of INR 50,000.** • The juries reserve the right not to award a prize, but can only award the prizes listed. • The trophy will be shipped free of cost inside India. Shipping to be paid extra by winners outside India. */**As per festival terms and conditions

*As per festival terms and conditions