Malayalam short film 'Keni - The Otherkin' won the 'Best Short Film' award at the International Film Festival of Shimla on Sunday.
The film written and directed by Sajesh Mohan had earlier won a host of other awards, notably the 'Best Drama' prize at the Vienna International Film Awards 2021 in April.
International Film Festival of Shimla’s award ceremony was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur. The winning film directors were presented with the awards by the Chief Minister. Suresh Bhardwaj, the state’s Urban development & town and country planning minister was also present at the award ceremony. On the third and the final day of the festival, Vijay, the director of the Bollywood movie 'Thalivi' came in as the celebrity guest.
After the screening of his film, Vijay interacted with audience in the open forum and talked about the commercial and Tamil cinema.
On the last day of the IFFS, 'Amgahar' which was directed by an Iranian filmmaker, and 'Nazi' which was directed by a Moroccon filmmaker was also showcased.
The film 'Shoot the Leopard' which was based upon the terror of leopards in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand was highly applauded.
The panel of jury included national award jury member Pampally.
Keni - The Otherkin is also a recipient of 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'.
Keni also won 'Honourable Mention' at the Mumbai 9th Indian Cine Film Festival-21 and received a 'Special Mention' at the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2021.
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.
Director Sajesh, a lead producer at Onmanorama has dealt with patriarchy and mental health issues in the 10-minute film. The politics of gender and various manifestations of depression gives the film a fresh stimulus.
Abhilash Balachandran has edited the film, the music for which was done by Veetraag and Sangeeth Pavithran while Nandagopan P handled the sync sound. Basil Shaji is the associate director, and Toni George is the cinematographer of Keni.
The results of feature, documentary, animation and short film category are as follows
International category
Feature film
Special Jury award- “Die Grenze”
Director- Ronald Unterberger
Country: Germany
Documentary
Best Film award- “Co-Husband” (Sahayak Srimaan)
Director- Ganesh Panday
Country: Nepal
Special Jury award- “Land of My Father”
Director- Matthew Koshmrl
Country: Republic of Korea
Short Film
Best Film- “Naji”
Director- Hosein Torkjoosh
Country: Iran
Special Jury award- “Aparat”
Director- Hasan Najmabad
Country: Iran
Special Jury- “Oonch Neech”
Director- Aryaman Prasad
Country: United States
Animation
Best Film award- “The Boy and The Mountain”
Director- Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal
Country: Chile
National Category
Feature film
Best Film- “DAALCHEENI”
Director- Peenakee Singh & Sisir Kumar Sahu
State: Orissa
Special Jury - Five Point Three
Director: Vaibhav Dixit
Documentary
Best Film- Hatti, we exist
Director- Viveck Tewari
From: Mumbai
Special Jury- Ambedkar Nagar Lockdown
Director: Dr. Sumeet Sanjay Patil
From: Mumbai
Short Film
Best Film- Keni - The Otherkin
Director- Sajesh Mohan
State: Kerala
Special Jury- “EVA”
Director- Sohan Lal
State: Kerala
Animation
Best Film- Kandittundu (Seen it)
Director- “Adithi Krishnadas”
State: Kerala
Special Jury-“Mundari Srishtikatha”
Director- “Meghnath”
State: Ranchi, Jharkhand
State Category
Best Film- “A MAN & HIS SHOES”
Director: Abhi Sharma
Place: Hamirpur
Special Jury- “TEA SHOP AT NARKANDA”
Director: Himal Nachiket Das
Place: Kullu