Mansi Maheshwari’s Bunnyhood is a delirious plunge into adolescent betrayal that feels like someone handed a ballpoint pen to your fever dreams. Based on Maheshwari’s own experience, this frenetic animation features Nina Wadia (Goodness Gracious Me) as the well-meaning but deceptive mother to Maheshwari’s rebellious Bobby. The film’s deliberately crude, scratchy aesthetic perfectly embodies its psychological disorientation, resembling “scribbled drawings etched onto an old school desk come to life.” When hospital staff morph into nightmarish rabbit creatures (echoing Bobby’s earlier video game), the film becomes a surreal playground for exploring the complicated ethics of parental lies. Selected for Cannes’ prestigious La Cinéf, this NFTS graduation film announces Maheshwari as a formidable new voice in animation.
Mansi Maheshwari
Mansi Maheshwari is an India-based filmmaker. She is a graduate of the National Film and Television School. Her film Bunnyhood premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and won the third prize in La Cinéf category. It went on to win many awards and premiered at almost 50 festivals across the globe, including Sundance Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand, Animafest Zagreb, Fantoche, Dok Leipzig, London Short Film Festival, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and many more.
