Young filmmakers from Bhubaneswar win Dadasaheb Phalke award

Bhubaneswar: Raising their voice against discrimination through a short film, students of the city based Sai International School have won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award. Their short film ‘Labels’ that won the award highlights how stereotypes in the society are posing hurdles for individual growth.

The team behind the film won the award in the Public Service Ad category in Delhi. Students Milan Machhar, Balaji Patra, Akhankya Acharya, Adyasha Patra, Shresyashree Nayak, Swapna Soren, Shaba Hussain, Shruti Jena and Yatan Bathwal were involved in the film making among others. The team produced the entire film themselves at their school from creating the concept to preparing the script, shooting, editing and all other aspects of production.

In the film 'Labels' the youngsters have addressed issues of social stigmas and taboos prevalent through discrimination based on race, religion, caste, gender and appearance that have created stereotypes which affect lives of millions of people around the globe.

“We began the production of the film for our International Youth Day celebrations last year in August for which the theme was of 'No hating zones'. Our campaigns on social media received huge response from all over the world including victims of discrimination from countries like USA, UK and many others,” said Sreyashree, a member of the students’ team.

This is the third Dadasaheb Phalke award for Sai International students. The award is presented as part of the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival, an independent film festival that promotes young film makers.

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