9th Edition of Dhwani Special Film Festival Concludes

Bhubaneswar  : The 9th Edition of Dhwani, a two-day special film festival focused on creating awareness and inclusion of persons with disabilities concluded as the winners for best documentaries and short film were declared.
Organized jointly by Aaina and FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar, the film festival screened of as many as 50 short films and documentaries in three categories i.e., 1 minute, 5 minutes and 30 minutes shot by professionals, enthusiasts and institutes from across the country. The event was attended by dozens of filmmakers and cultural figures, few of them were also the jury of the documentaries and short-film competition. In addition to this, the film festival witnessed panel discussion by experts on climate change impact on people with disabilities.
The valedictory ceremony was graced by dignitaries including Dr. Arabinda K Padhee, IAS, Dept of Agriculture & Farmers’s Empowerment as Chief Guest and Twin City Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi, Hockey Federation of India President & Olympian Dilip Tirkey, Cine Director Sabyasachi Mohapatra, Utah Issue Editor Kasthuri Mohapatra, Cine Actresses Dolly Jena, Actress Elina Samantharay, Pranab Das, Lalatendu Rath, Dr. Rosaline Pattshani, and Cartoonist Kamalakant Rath as guests of honour.
Among the winners, Anuj Kumar Pradhan’s from ‘RAY OF LIFE’ was awarded as the best film in 1-minute category, ‘VISION FOR INCLUSION’ by Rithvik Das & Subrata Bindhani as best in 5-minute category and Shudashmita Jena’s ‘UMMEED’ in the 30-minute category.
Similarly, Suraj Pattnaik’s ‘THE ABILITY TO WIN’ won the second prize in 1-minute category, Truptimayee Dehury’s ‘SAKHYAMA’ second in 5-minute category and Devapritam Saika’s ‘HERE ME NOT’ second in 30 minute category.
Among the 3rd position winners, Shreyashi Garg’s ‘THE ARTIST’ won in 1 minute category, Md Shakhawat’s ‘ABILITY’ in 5 minute category and Durgaprasad Martha’s ‘THE DARK PATH’ won in the 30 minutes category respectively.
While Madhav Jha’s ‘A BEACON OF LIGHT’ won the best film in Jury’s Choice, Prayag Kumar Das’s ‘AMRITA’ and Prativsha Das & Abinash Raut’s film ‘SWEEKAR’ won best film in Viewers Choice award. This apart, Jyotirdev Singh won the first place, Deeptimai Champati the second place and Neelmani Gaud & Sonali Nayak both won third place in the poster making competition on the theme of disability.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Arabinda K Padhee, IAS, Dept of Agriculture & Farmers’s Empowerment said, “Climate change never affects the rich or the poor. There are differences in our mentality or behavior. It is essential to change this mindset. Climate affects everyone on Earth.” He also launched the documentary ‘Coastal Diary’ which is directed by Ambuj Sathapathy in collaboration with by Satbhaya and Aaina.
Pradyumn Kumar Rath, Board Member of Aaina, was one of the guest speakers and spoke about how people with disabilities often face many barriers due to climate change and that is why it is important for everyone to be aware. FICCI-Flo Bhubaneswar Chairperson Namrita Chahal gave vote of thanks.
Ava Mishra of UNICEF presided over the second session on the impact of climate change and issues of persons with disabilities. Prof. Asha Hans, Sameer Ghosh, Praveen G and Jason Strother joined as a keynote critic and took part in the audience’s Q&A session.