Malayalam short film 'Keni - The Otherkin' wins Best Drama award at Vienna festival

Poster of the short film designed by Fine Arts student Sanath Sugathan.

Malayalam short film 'Keni - The Otherkin' won the 'Best Drama' award at the Vienna International Film Awards 2021.

Keni - The Otherkin was the only Indian film in the category that featured films from Russia, the US, Mexico, Australia among other countries.  

The short film is also in contention at the International Film Festival of Shimla 2021 (IFFS) and Bettiah International Film Festival 2021, Bihar.

The film directed by Sajesh Mohan had earlier won the Best Short Film - India (August) award in the Indo French International Film Festival (IFIFF) 2021 and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the World Film Carnival (WFC), Singapore and Madras Independent Film Festival (MIFF). Anish P Tom won the Best SFX award at MIFF for the audiography of 'Keni - The Otherkin'.

The film, which dwells mainly on patriarchy and mental health, had won 'Honourable Mention' at the Mumbai 9th Indian Cine Film Festival-21 and had also received a 'Special Mention' at the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2021.

Writer-director Sajesh, a lead producer at Onmanorama.com, has adopted a unique story-telling approach to weave in the politics of gender and different manifestations of mental depression, giving the movie a fresh stimulus.

Padmakumar Kochukuttan and Dr Jeena Shaji are in the lead roles in the movie produced by the latter under the banner of First Show Films Productions.

The film, edited by Abhilash Balachandran, has music by duo Veetraag and Sangeeth Pavithran. Nandagopan P has handled the sync sound. Basil Shaji is the associate director, and Toni George is the cinematographer of the short film that has brought together a group of debutants, including the director and professionals.

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