AWARDS

Satyajit Ray Foundation International Short Film Competition 2012

The call for submissions is now open – deadline Friday 23 March 2012

“Film is an exciting and wonderful medium, and short films have been at the centre of cinema activity since the dawn of the movies. The Satyajit Ray Foundation’s Short Film Competition will encourage young film-makers to explore life and put it on the screen, just as Ray himself did in his inspiring work” Mike Leigh (Patron of the Satyajit Ray Foundation Short Film Competition)

• All entries should be under 20 minutes
• Films should express and inform aspects of the experiences of South Asians (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) either within their own countries or the Diaspora
• All submissions must have been completed within two years prior to the closing date
• Previously submitted entries are ineligible
• All short-listed films will be screened in a special programme during the London Indian Film Festival
• Award: £1,000 for the winning film
• The award will be presented and the winning film screened at the London Indian Film Festival's closing night gala

To download the entry form please click here...

Last year’s Satyajit Ray Foundation International Short Film Competition

The 2011 Satyajit Ray Foundation’s Short Film Competition, in association with the London INDIAN Film Festival (LIFF), was won by UK filmmaker Andrew Hinton for his short film AMAR. Hinton was awarded a £1,000 prize by the Satyajit Ray Foundation on the Closing Night of the Festival.

Judges: Director Menhaj Huda (Kidulthood, Everywhere and Nowhere), Film Critic Mark Adams (Screen International), Filmmaker Billy Dosanjh (winner of the 2010 competition for his graduation documentary ‘A Miracle in West Brom’) and Head of the Jury Satwant Gill (London Indian Film Festival).

The short-listed films for the 2011 Award were :

AMAR - Dir ANDREW HINTON (UK)
All great achievements require time. Amar is 14 and top of his class. Someday he’d like to be a professional cricketer but for now he’s the family’s main breadwinner. An observational documentary which leads us through Amar’s daily routine.

THE TALKING WALLS OF LAHORE - Dir NUMRA SIDDIQUI (UK)
Graffiti is everywhere in Pakistan’s cultural heartland. Words consume the city’s visible spaces, from herbal practitioners advertising impotency cures to political and religious slogans. In a country battling economic and political instability, these ‘wall chalkings’ form a rich amalgamation of contradictory messages. The act of writing becomes emancipation, defying forces that attempt to bind individual expression.

MY LAD – Dir SAMI KHAN (UK)
Abdul has been hiding out in his launderette for days, unable to deal with the world outside. Despite pleas from his brother, Abdul is determined to run from the one thing he has to accept. Fate.

BOXING LADIES, THE – Dir ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR (INDIA)
Zainab, Bushra and Sughra are three spirited, teenage sisters living in a small slum in Kolkata. They are also national level boxers. As the girls dream of rising above their living conditions, the film challenges the stereotype of young Muslim women.

ZAROORAT (DESPERATION) – Dir GEORGE MANGALATH THOMAS (INDIA)
Asif, a street hawker, is confronted by a simple need - he must earn some money; just enough to buy some food. Which has it’s own complications – particularly when confronted with a corrupt local policeman and the corporation bulldozers poised to demolish his home…

VITTHAL – Dir VINOO CHOLIPARAMBIL (INDIA)
Vitthal is angry, very angry. Following the death of his grandfather, according to Hindu death rituals, his parents have shaved off his hair. For 12 year old Vitthal, his world is shattered.

HOME - Dir KRISH SHRIKUMAR (UK)
The man’s memories of home have become more vivid with time. This is the story of his journey back to a place only he knows he can return to… A short meditation on ‘Home’ as a place far beyond the imagination.

LIFF AUDIENCE AWARD

The 2011 Audience Award was a close shave with several popular films in the running, but ultimately the Audience voted for Rang Rasiya (Colours of Passion), Directed by Ketan Mehta. The film tells of the life of Indian Artist Raja Ravi Varma and his relationship with his muse. Both Ketan and actors Nandana Sen and Ferena Wazeir attended the 2011 festival and were extremely popular.