Wins For India at Cannes’ La Cinef with ‘Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know’ and ‘Bunnyhood’
Cannes 2024: An ecstatic moment unfolded for India at the 77th Edition of Festival De Cannes when ‘Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know…’ made by Chidananda S Naik bagged the first prize in the La Cinef category. The third prize was awarded to the UK film ‘Bunnyhood ’made by an Indian filmmaker, Mansi Maheshwari.
Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know’ wins Cannes’ La Cinef
Chidananda’s ‘Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know’ won the best short prize at the La Cinef on Thursday in Cannes securing the first position in a competition with 17 other remarkable films competing for the same title. A 16-minute short fiction film inspired by the folklore rooted in the culture and childhood of the maker was judged by a jury of five chaired by Lubna Azabal.
The maker of the film, Chidananda, a student of the Film and Television Institute of India made the film at the end of his course at FTII. Sharing some general trivia about the film, Chidananda recalled they only had four days to make the film, and he was advised not to make the film. He also reflected that as a folklore from Karnataka, he has been carrying the movie idea since his childhood.
‘Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know’ is a story about a village where an elderly woman steals a rooster from the village unleashing chaos. To wrong the rights, a prophecy is evoked exiling her and her family from the village.
‘Bunnyhood’ Bagged The Third Prize
Indian filmmaker Mansi Maheshwari took home the third prize at Cannes’ La Cinef with her cel animation film ‘Bunnyhood.’ Exploring the rationale behind human lies, and their impacts on people who entrust their faith in people, the idea was to understand “why people feel the need to lie, and its consequences” for Mansi.
The brainchild of the Meerut-born filmmaker, and student of National Film Television School (NFTS), London - ‘Bunnyhood’ secured the third position in the category.
The second place was won by ‘Out of the Widow Through the Wall’, directed by Asya Segalovich, of Columbia University, and ‘The Chaos She Left Behind’, made by Nikos Kolioukos of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
With his win, Chidananda’s film became only the second film in five years to bring home La Cinef after ‘CatDog’, a film by Ashmita Guha Neogi, also from FTII, in 2020.
The festival grants 15,000 euros to the first winner, with 11,250 euros for the second prize and 7,500 euros to the third.
