Indian film bags top honor at 77th Cannes Film Festival
Indian director Chidananda S Naik's film, Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, has clinched the Best Short award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. This marks a significant triumph for India, being its second first prize in five years. The previous win was by Ashmita Guha Neogi for her film CatDog in 2020. The prestigious La Cinef Awards were announced on Thursday.
Naik's film emerged winner among global submissions
Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know was chosen from a pool of 18 films, shortlisted from an impressive 2,263 submissions from 555 film schools worldwide. As the first prize winner, Naik will receive a grant of 15,000 euros from Cannes. The film was produced by Naik upon completion of his one-year course at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
Naik's film is inspired by a Kannada folk tale
The 16-minute short draws its inspiration from a Kannada folk tale about an elderly woman who steals a rooster, leading her village into perpetual darkness. Speaking to Variety, Naik revealed, "We had only four days. I was basically told not to make this film. It's based on folklore from Karnataka. These are the stories we grew up with, so I was carrying this idea since my childhood."
Another Indian film, 'Bunnyhood' claimed third prize at Cannes
In the same category at Cannes, Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari secured the third prize. Despite being a UK production, Bunnyhood is the work of an Indian filmmaker originally from Meerut. Maheshwari created Bunnyhood as her graduation project at the National Film Television School (NFTS) in London and will receive a grant of 7,500 euros as the third prize recipient.
Second prize shared by filmmakers from Columbia and Greece
The second prize at La Cinef was shared by Out of the Widow Through the Wall by Asya Segalovich from Columbia University and The Chaos She Left Behind by Nikos Kolioukos of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Both filmmakers will receive an 11,250 euro grant from Cannes. The awarded films are set to be screened at Cinema du Pantheon on June 3 and at MK2 Quai de Seine on June 4.
