One-minute films on disability win accolades
"Becky", a one-minute film on a wheelchair bound girl of the same name, has won the first prize at AbilityFest 2005.
"Becky", a one-minute film on a wheelchair bound girl of the same name, has won the first prize at AbilityFest 2005, a five-day festival of films made by the physically challenged that concluded here Tuesday.
Filmmakers Madhi and Thiagarajan Kumararaja received Rs.100,000 for their effort. The competition section, titled "60 Seconds to Fame", drew 379 entries.
"The quality of the one-minute films was very high. To have a competition section was an excellent idea," said noted filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who headed the jury.
The second prize of Rs.75,000 went to Nakul Sahwney for "With a little help from my Friends", while Sreebala K. Menon won the third prize of Rs.50,000.
Siddharth S. Kumar's "Can You?" and Varun Narvekar's "Vision" received special mentions.
Said jury member Paresh C. Palicha, 33, a film critic who has suffered from cerebral palsy since he was born and is wheelchair-bound: "It was a mind blowing experience, sitting with this esteemed group of jury members and judging these films...especially when one knows that they respect your views".
Palicha, a winner of the Filmfare readers' review award, has been writing on films since 1995.
Among the others on the jury were Jaya Bachchan, Nandita Das and Mani Ratnam.
Jaysree Raveendran of the Ability Foundation, which organised the festival, appealed to television channels and the information and broadcasting ministry to widely show the top ten 60-second films on Indian channels to increase public awareness about disabilities.
Some of the films will be shown at the German Disability Festival, during its 10th anniversary celebration in November, festival director Gregory Kern said.
