Indian film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know wins La Cinef for Best Short at Cannes 2024
The winners of La Cinef Best Short category
It is truly a watershed moment for Indian cinema at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Even as the country was celebrating Payal Kapdia'sAll We Imagine As Light getting selected in the competition section ending the draught of 30 long years for Indian cinema, Indian filmmaker Chidananda S Naik's short film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won the 1st prize of La Cinef for Best Short at the festival. But that's not all. Indian filmmaker Mansi Maheshwari's Bunnyhood won the third prize in the same category.
While Bunnyhood is a UK film, it is made by a Meerut-based filmmaker.The La Cinef Awards were announced on May 23.
Cannes will give a grant of 15,000 euros for the first prize and 11,250 euros and 7,500 euros for the second and third prizes, respectively.
Chidanananda S Naik is a student of FTII, Pune. His film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won the first prize amongst 17 other films. According to reports, the category consisted of 18 films by film students from 2,263 applicants from 555 film schools across the globe.
Sunflowers were... is a 16-minute shortstory of a village thrown into chaos by an elderly woman who steals a rooster. To bring the rooster back, a prophecy is invoked, sending the old lady’s family into exile.
Meanwhile, Mansi Maheshwari, born in Meerut, made Bunnyhood as part of her graduation project at the National Film Television School (NFTS) in London.
Here's a glimpse:
The second prize was shared by Columbia University's Our The Window Through The Wall by Asya Segalovich and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki's The Chaos She Left Bheind by Nikos Kolioukos.
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The award ceremony took place at the Bunuel Theatre on May 23, which was followed by the screening of the films.
