Biography
Popularly known as Jijo Sengupta, Anannya Sengupta is an award-winning Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, Co-founder of AAJ Media Productions. Jijo was born in India on October 13, 1993. Jijo's interest in animation dates back when he was 3 years old and made his first animation movie when he was in the 7th grade. As a child, he was always fascinated by films and it was something that inspired him significantly. He grew up watching cartoons and was fascinated by them and always looked forward to more.
During all those years, he strongly realized the sense and presence of a story in every single element, that's when he moved to the USA to pursue his academic journey. He got his BS in New Media Interactive Development (Class of 2016) and later pursued his MFA degree in Films and Animation (Class of 2019) at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. He was fortunate to have worked as an animation intern for the movie 'The Minions' at Illumination Entertainment, part of Universal Studios in 2014. He started his career as Director while pursuing his master's in films and animation in New York, with his award-winning student film, "I am Arbor" and several other films.
After he finished his masters Jijo was getting good opportunities from renowned production houses in the USA, but he wanted to come back to India and contribute to the Entertainment industry, the place where he was born. He was always fascinated with the idea of Storytelling. He believes that there is a new generation of narratives, storytelling experiments, cinematic expression and treatment that incorporates the diversity, depth and drama of Global Cinema.
In 2017, he founded his own company "AAJ Media Productions" which is backed by an experienced set of team members based out of India and the US. AAJ Media Productions was also recognized as one of India's best Media and Entertainment start-ups in 2020. He is involved with several animations, live-action films and music videos as a Director, Actor, and Composer.
Jijo Sengupta is a recipient of several accolades and nominations from film festivals, such as the Madrid International Film Festival, Dubai International Cine Carnival, Crown Wood International Festival, Nice International Film Festival, New York International, London Independent Film Festival, Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival, Desert Rock Film Festivals, and many more. His first-ever animated web-series, "Ping Pong'd," an OTT release, won "The Best Asian Film'' at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 and garnered several nominations globally. His work has made a presence on OTT and VOD platforms like Amazon Prime, MX Player, and Pocket Films. Jijo has a passion to write songs and some of his music videos "Red," "The One," "Mastermind," and "L.A.W." are his major award-winning music videos.
His live action films "Let My Country Awake," "Sunoji Emoji," "I Wish," "Countless," and many others received several prestigious recognition at national and international film festivals in various categories such as Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Short Film, Best Director, and more. "Countless" was also officially screened on the big screens at the Cannes Festival in 2024 and was mentioned in "The Hollywood Reporter Magazine".
