Outside it rains, on a city of skyscrapers, the greys linger mournfully on every daily scene, busy roads, tired mothers and little children who have no place to play. Meanwhile an old woman and her cat rummage through their collection of match- boxes. Together they escape into a world of color, and travel to distant lands and distant times, racing with the wind and skipping on the bright horizons of a village dawn. Riding happily on a printed rainbow. Influenced by the vibrant folk art styles of India, Gitanjali Rao explores the theme of magical realism through the medium of animation. The film tells a story of the dreariness of urban life and the escape into an imagined world of curiosity and color.
Gitanjali Rao graduated with honors as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai, in 1994. She is a self taught animator, filmmaker and theatre artist. She has since, independently produced, directed and animated two award winning short films, ‘Orange’ and ‘Printed Rainbow’.
‘Printed Rainbow’ premiered at Cannes 2006, Critic’s Week, in Competition. It went on to win the three Awards for the Best Short film, at Cannes 2006. It was also short listed in the last ten films for the Academy Awards in 2008, besides winning 25 International Awards and traveling to over a hundred international festivals. She also has a string of very popular and award winning animated commercials to her credit and is currently represented by Acme Film Works, L.A.
Gitanjali also conducts workshops and presentations and has been in the jury at various International Film Festivals including the prestigious CANNES Critics week jury for short films in 2011. She has been working on two feature length animation films and is currently pursuing her next short animation film.