Fireflies in the abyss directed by Chandrasekhar Reddy, depicting the indomitable spirit of an 11-year old boy who try to escape from his job in a coal mine and return to school, won the award for the Best Long Documentary (above 40 minutes) at the 9th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), which concluded here on Tuesday.
The Hunt directed by Biju Toppo, on life and human rights violations in the Naxal-affected areas of Central India, won the award for the Best Short Documentary (under 40 minutes).
Best film
The Best Short Fiction award was won by Siddharth Chauhan’s Papa , which showed the life of a paralysed mother and her son, and her only hope, a dove which was found in the house the day her husband died.
Shaunak Sen and Salim Khan won the Best Cinematography award for the documentary Sleeping cities .
Euphoria directed by Abhijith Krishnan, which brought on screen the reminiscence of an artist, won the award for the Best Animation film. Tilak directed by Aji Antony Alunkel of the K.R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, won the Best Campus film award.
Long documentary
In the Long Documentary category, Shepherdess of the glaciers directed by Stanzin Dorjai won a Special Jury Mention. In the Short Documentary category, the special mention was won by Famous in Ahmedabad directed by Hardik Mehta.
The Special Jury Mention in the Short Film category was shared by Darbe Guje directed by Jishnu Sreekandan and Daddy, Grandpa and My Lady directed by Kim Jung Hyun.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan gave away the awards. In his inaugural address, he requested Culture Minister A.K. Balan to take steps to include international films in the competition category of the documentary and short film festival from next year.
Mr. Balan, who presided over the function, said that there was an urgent need for decentralisation in the release of films, as those in the smaller towns and villages also needed to have access to films.
Film-maker Kamal Swaroop, the fiction jury chairperson, said that the short fiction category had fantastic films whereas the music videos were a disappointment. Cinematographer K.U. Mohanan, the non-fiction jury chairperson, requested for a ‘better standards’ in the selection of films as there were quite a few ‘mediocre’ works.
