The Indo-French animated feature “Heirloom” has formalized its French co-production with Paris-based Condor Films and secured the CNC‘s Aide aux Cinémas du Monde grant. The period family fantasy marks the debut feature of Upamanyu Bhattacharyya.
Bhattacharyya previously won the City of Annecy Award in 2020 for his short “Wade.”
Set in Ahmedabad in 1960, “Heirloom” centres on Kirti, a young businessman devoted to preserving handloom traditions, and his wife Sonal, who is slowly dying of a hereditary disease and urges the family to pivot to the powerloom industry to secure their future. The couple’s conflict sharpens when they discover a tapestry that maps their entire family history, forcing a reckoning between progress and the pull of the past. The film is animated using raw, hand-drawn 2D techniques combined with stop-motion embroidery.
The film is produced by Odd & Even and Otter Studios alongside Condor Films and the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC). Condor Films, the production arm of arthouse distributor Condor Distribution, serves as the French creative and financing partner. Additional co-producers are Tarun Lakshminarayanan, Sanyukta Srinivasan, and Bangalore-based advertising agency Talented.
