Guwahati (Assam) [India], October 23 (ANI): Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati students have secured first prize in the 2025 24-hour contest, an international 24-hour animation challenge, the institute said in a release on Thursday.

Organised by Toon Boom Animation, this year's competition witnessed participation from 185 institutions from 35 countries.

Under the supervision of Dr Mriganka Madhukaillya, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Design, IIT Guwahati, the team of Arin Bandyopadhyay, Aditya Ravi Pawar, Aseel Pasha, and S Balasankar contested against 764 teams and 3,820 students to win the first prize.

The theme for this year's contest was 'Flip Your Perspective,' which challenged participants to create a 30-second animated short film in 24 hours.

The IIT Guwahati team's creative interpretation and technical excellence earned them the top honour among hundreds of entries worldwide.

Congratulating the IIT Guwahati team, Prof. Devendra Jalihal, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, 'This achievement reflects the creativity and hard work of our students and faculty. Winning an international competition of this scale is a testament to the world-class talent nurtured at IIT Guwahati.'

The 24-hour contest is an internationally known competition that puts its participants under time and pressure constraints, while also requiring them to be highly creative.

Participants are given a theme at midnight of the 24-hour period, which must include storyboarding to the final animation. As per the guidelines, the students can't use any artwork, models or content created in advance, thereby maintaining originality and skill.

To avoid unfair advantage, the use of AI tools to create visuals or sound is strictly prohibited. Submissions are required to be uploaded before the deadline; even a one-second delay results in automatic disqualification, showing the strict and demanding nature of the contest at professional standards.

This year's competition was sponsored by leading animation enterprises such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Sony Pictures Animation, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Animation, Bento Box, Netflix, Cartoon Saloon, Illumination, DreamWorks, Wacom, XP-Pen, ASIFA Hollywood, Animation Is Film Festival, and Toon Boom Animation, among others.

As the first prize, IIT Guwahati students have won student passes to the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) 2026, along with professional animation software licenses, studio memberships, and mentorship sessions with Disney animators, among other recognitions. (ANI)