Indian filmmaker Chidanand S Naik (second from left) after winning the La Cinéfe Award at Cannes 2024. | Photo credit: @chidanandasnaik/X
It is a proud moment for India as the short film Sunflower was the first to know Iswon La Cinéfe’s first prize on Thursday. Directed by Chidanand S Naik, a student of FTII, Pune, Sunflower was the first to know The story revolves around an old woman who steals a rooster and deprives a village of sunlight.
Actor Yash, R Madhavan and FTII took to social media to congratulate Chidanand on his achievement. Yash congratulated Chidanand on Twitter, writing, “Proud to see you taking Kannada folk music to the global stage and setting new benchmarks for Indian cinema.”
The 27th La Cinéfe winners were announced on May 23. The Short Films and La Cinéfe Jury presented the 2024 La Cinéfe Awards during a gala ceremony at the Buñuel Theatre. Hindu Before the festival, Chidanand, a resident of Mysore, shared his experience of making a 15-minute Kannada short film.
He said, “We were given just four days to shoot. It was difficult to shoot overnight with limited resources, which was made even more difficult because of the difficult geographical conditions of the location. Public transport was not accessible, so everyone had to carry equipment overnight with minimal crew. Those four days were very tough, everyone was tired and exhausted, yet driven by an unbreakable passion.”
The doctor-turned-filmmaker made the film at the end of his one-year course at the television wing of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Sunflower was the first to know It is derived from a Kannada folktale. He had said, “My dream is to transform the myths and folklore of India into cinematic experiences.” HinduThe short film is cinematographed by Suraj Thakur, edited by Manoj V and sound designed by Abhishek Kadam.
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The jury chairmen, Lubna Azabal, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Claudine Nougaret, Paolo Moretti and Vladimir Perisic jointly awarded the second prize The chaos he left behind Nikos Koliakos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Greece) and out the window across the wall By Asya Segalovich (Columbia University – USA).
Received third prize Bunnyhood By Manasi Maheshwari (NFTS – United Kingdom). “I’m so happy that animation has a chance to compete with live-action,” said the director.
(With inputs from ANI)
