FTII Students Won ‘La Cinef’ Award

On May 23rd, 2024, “SUNFLOWERS WERE THE FIRST ONES TO KNOW,” a short film by a student of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), has won Cannes’ La Cinef Award for Best Short at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Key Points

For the first time, a film by a student from FTII's 1-year Television course won at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film was among 18 shorts (14 live-action and 4 animated films) selected from a total of 2,263 films submitted by 555 film schools all over the world.
The film is directed by Chidananda S Naik, shot by Suraj Thakur, edited by Manoj V and sound by Abhishek Kadam.
It tells the story of an elderly woman who steals a village rooster, causing chaos and leading to her family's exile after a prophecy is invoked
‘La Cinef’ is aimed at encouraging new talents and recognises films from film schools across the world.