30 short films compete for over Rs.1 million prize at IFFI

Panaji, Nov 17 (IANS) As many as 30 films will vie for prize money worth more than Rs.1 million at the short film centre (SFC) at the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI), starting here Nov 22.

A spokesperson for the festival said the international competition section at the SFC will have 20 short films sourced from India, Australia, US, Spain, Mexico, Iran, Britain, UAE and China.

'The environment competition has 10 films from India which will vie for the coveted Vasudha award, which is India's only government award for an environmental film,' the spokesperson said.

The winner in the international competition section wins a prize of Rs.500,000 as part of the Golden Lamp Tree award, while the silver lamp tree award will carry a cash prize of Rs.300,000.

'The Vasudha award will carry a purse of Rs.300,000 and the films will be judged by a jury comprising of Green Oscar winner Naresh Bedi (chairman of the jury), documentary filmmaker Romulus Whitaker and founder and director of the International Film Festival of Innsbruck Helmut Groschup,' the spokesperson said.

The jury for the SFC's international competition comprises of Indian director Goutam Ghose, Russian actress Oxana Federova, French producer Patrick Jorge, actress Helene Cardona and founder of the London Film Academy Daisy Gili.

More than 8,500 delegates from across the world are expected to be part of the 10-day film-fest which will end Dec 2. Veteran Bollywood director Yash Chopra will inaugurate the festival.