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The scene of an old man wading through neck-deep water carrying a pot of drinking water reflects the theme of ‘Jalam’, a short film directed by Manu S Kumar, an employee of UST Global in Technopark.
A native of Alappuzha, Manu’s short film, which depicts the drinking water crisis in Kuttanad, not only got rave reviews, but also won the best short film award in the recently-held Qisa short film festival organised by Technopark-based cultural forum Prathidhwani.
The themes of the short films exhibited at the festival organised exclusively for techies ranged from social issues to classics. “I did ‘Jalam’ with the support of some schoolmates. The saying ‘water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink’ is the situation portrayed in the film,” said Manu, elated to receive the award from veteran director Shaji N Karun at a function to be held on Thursday.
Mahesh Periyadan, also an employee of UST Global, is the best scriptwriter and director of the second best short film, ‘Ettaman: A Myth’. “It is a satire born after reading a strange guideline for a short film competition. The organisers wanted short films of eight minutes’ duration and having eight characters. I saw it as a challenge to the freedom of the scriptwriter and director. So, I made a satire out of it. It got good comments even from that short film competition,” said Mahesh, whose first short film ‘Neelakannada’ too was screened at Qisa.
Kiran N S and Aabid A of RMESI won the best director award for the short film ‘The Appointment.’ Dipu Dasan of MOBATIA won the best actor award for ‘Kanappuram’, directed by himself. Dipu was also lead character in another short film, ‘6 minutes’, screened at the festival. ‘Mizhikalkapuram’ by Ram Kumar of PIT Solutions and ‘Classical Monologue of a Director’ by Raju Odunghat of Toonz won special jury mention.
The jury consisting of author Rosemary, film critic M S Thomas and Nooranad Ramachandran selected the winners. The screening of the films was held in a jam-packed Travancore hall last Sunday. As many as 21 films directed by techies were screened.
The award distribution will be held on Thursday. Director Renjith Shankar will be the chief guest at the function, during which award-winning short films will be screenede ceremony. It will be followed by a sufi ghazal night by Mehfil band.
(This weekly column every Thursday brings out the happenings in Technopark. Send your feedback to [email protected])
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