Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know, a film made by a student of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, won the first prize in the La Cinef category of the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 24. It bagged the first prize among 18 shorts selected from 2,263 entries by 555 film schools from all over the world.
The 15-minute short film in Kannada is based on a folklore (Ajji Koli) from Karnataka and is directed by doctor-turned-filmmaker Chidanand Naik. It was shot by Suraj Thakur and edited by Manoj V. It stars Jahangir.
The first prize carries a grant of Rs. 13.50 lakh