Debutante Abhinav Shiv Tiwari’s Oass, The Dew Drops that delves into the harsh realistic world of child trafficking and flesh trade, has won three awards at the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) 2013. Besides best film and best screenplay, the film saw actress Divya Chhetri picking up the best actress award, announced on the last day of the second edition of the festival.
The international jury of the fest was chaired by acclaimed filmmaker Aparna Sen. The other jury members included Canadian filmmaker and South Asian Film Festival co-founder Terri C. McLuhan and Vimukthi Jayasundara, an award winning Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and visual artist.
Incidentally, the film also has an Odisha connection. One of the producers of thefilm, Debashish Bhattacharjee, is the founder of Kreative Harvest, a Bhubaneswar based integrated media entertainment and creative services company.
The film has been receiving rare reviews in festival circuits. It won the best feature film award in the prestigious Sunset International Film Festival at Los Angeles, USA. The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the opening night film in the Chicago South Asian Film Festival and was also selected for the Seattle South Asian Film Festival and Bollywood Film Festival, Norway.
A proud Bhattacharjee, said he was happy that awards were coming their way.
‘’OASS is our strong cinematic statement in the 100th year of Indian Cinema. The film is our tribute to the strength and resolve of women,’’ he said. ‘’The film will be releasing very soon in India and abroad,’’ he added.