KOCHI: ‘RANDU Kurippukal’, the 2015 Malayalam short film directed by Gireesh Kumar K, took home the award for Best Short Fiction in the competition category of the SiGNS-2016 short film and documentary festival, which concluded here on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the award for Best Documentary was shared between Bengali production ‘Tender is the Sight’ (2014), helmed by Torsha Banerjee; and ‘Vanishing Glaciers’ (2015), a production in Kashmiri by Raja Shabir Khan.
The winning films - the themes of which are in keeping with the festival’s unique subaltern character - were judged to be the best of ‘strong fields’ in both the categories by an eminent jury chaired by documentary filmmaker Rakesh Sharma. Film critique Premendra Mazumder and cinematographer Fowzia Fathima were members of the jury.
At the function, the John Abraham Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film-2015, which carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, was bagged by ‘Munroe Thuruth’ directed by P S Manu. Special Mention awards were presented to S Sunil’s ‘Marubhagam’ and Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s ‘Ozhivudivasathe Kali.’“It is heartening to note that the short film and documentary scene in India is vibrant and thriving. The varied range of thematic concerns as well as the narrative styles and cinematic treatments of the selected films were especially impressive,” said Sharma, who delivered the jury report at the closing ceremony held at Town Hall.Recommending greater emphasis on films based on contemporary social, economic and political complexities, Sharma commented on the inclusion of films on the concerns of the LGBTQ community and films that probe issues surrounding culture and gender.
The Best Short Fiction and Documentary awards carry prize money of Rs 50,000 each, while the awards for ‘Cinema of Resistance’ - short feature or documentary on subjects like state oppression, human rights, environmental issues, gender equality, social/cultural identity - and ‘Cinema Experimenta’ - best experimental effort - come with a prize money of Rs 25,000 each. The prize money is shared equally between the producer and director. All the awards carry certificate of merit and memento.The jury also presented special awards to ‘Kamuki’ (Sweetheart, 2015) directed by Christo Tomy and ‘Leeches’ (2016), an Urdu-Dakhani production from Payal Sethi, in the short film category. Other than Mohanan, filmmakers K G George and Lenin Rajendran and Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) secretary Riyas Komu were the guests of honour. SiGNS Festival Coordinator K G Mohankumar delivered a vote of thanks.