VANCOUVER: Indian film "The School Bag" has bagged the Best Short Film award at the Vancouver Golden Panda International Film Festival.
The fiction film, directed by Dheeraj Jindal, is based in Peshawar, Pakistan.
"When we set out to make the film, we had no idea that it would win so many awards. What started as a strong belief took a beautiful shape and has now reached out and touched so many lives. We are overwhelmed. Thank you Vancouver," Jindal said in a statement.
The prize includes a seven-day all paid filmmaker's trip to China. The award ceremony was held on December 10.
"The School Bag" also won the Best Short Film award at the Lahore International Children's Film Festival and Jindal received the Best Director award at the Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati, US.
In the film, actress Rasika Dugal plays a mother to a seven-year-old boy.
Watch the short film here:
(video by LargeShortFilms on YouTube)