Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Barkha Naik, a young filmmaker from Goa, has brought pride to her State by winning the prestigious Silver Conch award for Best Short Fiction Film at the 18th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) on Friday. She describes this as a recognition for both Konkani cinema and the short film genre.
She was presented with the prize during the Mumbai award ceremony of the seven-day esteemed international film festival, which was put on by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India.
The award was presented by veteran Indian filmmaker Kiran Shantaram. At a grandiose ceremony, Barkha and Heramb Kirtany, a young producer from Goa, were presented with the award.
“I am overjoyed to have been given this honor. I was unable to submit this movie to many festivals because it is already in distribution. However, MIFF, a major film festival, both accepted and gave us an award. Lots of love and heart went into making this movie. I am therefore pleased to have received the award on behalf of all those involved in the production of this movie. Barkha
She continued by saying that the entire crew, who had worked incredibly hard to make this movie a success, was proud of the moment.
“I am very aware that the market for short films is rather small,” she said in response to a question regarding the message this recognition sends for the less well-known short film category. Thus, in order to improve its chances of being successfully sold, people constantly press for a full-length feature film, even when we are producing a short. Therefore, given this context, the acknowledgement is undoubtedly very motivating for those who create short films.
