Indian director wins Sundance-Mahindra filmmaking award
Indian director Shonali Bose and three other filmmakers have won the prestigious 2012 Sundance Institute-Mahindra Global Filmmaking award, which recognises and supports independent talent from around the world.
Bose, best known for her award-winning English film "Amu" and upcoming film "Chittagong", bagged the award for her project "Margarita: With A Straw".
The other winners are Australian director Ariel Kleiman for "Partisan", South African filmmaker Etienne Kallos for "Vrystaat" (Free State) and Dominga Sotomayor from Chile for "Late To Die Young". Each of the winning filmmakers received a cash award of USD 10,000.
The awards were presented at a private ceremony at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, about 1,000 km from here, today by Anand Mahindra, the Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra Group, Rohit Khattar, Chairman, Mumbai Mantra, Michelle Satter, Director and Alesia Weston, Associate Director, Sundance Institute.
Presenting the award to Bose, Anand Mahindra said,"Our core purpose is to use all our resources to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world to enable them to rise.
"We are delighted to assist the Sundance Institute in its mission of finding new voices in independent filmmaking from around the world," the noted industrialist said.
Congratulating the four "incredible" filmmakers, Rohit Khattar said India is at an "exciting storytelling" stage in the history of country's Independent Cinema.
"With the help of our partners, Sundance Institute, we are keen to recognise, nurture and hone extraordinary talent in India and across the world," Khattar said.Veteran Hollywood actor-producer Robert Redford thanked Mahindra for its joint global commitment in nurturing new storytellers.
"It is particularly exciting to join with Anand Mahindra and his group to expand this collaboration by bringing Sundance Institute's renowned Screenwriters Lab programme to India in March, to support one of the most extraordinary cultures on the globe," Redford said.
The selection committee for the Indian project included eminent personalities like Shabana Azmi, Shyam Benegal, Ira Bhaskar, Anupama Chopra, Gautam Ghose, K Hariharan, Shekhar Kapur, Anjum Rajbali and Ramesh Sippy.
The Sundance Institute-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award is part of a multifaceted collaboration that exemplifies a commitment to and support of world cinema by the Mahindra Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India, and the nonprofit Sundance Institute, one of the world's leading cultural organisations.
The partnership, which also includes the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India, extends over a three-year period.
The lab will provide an annual opportunity for eight Indian screenwriters to develop their works under the guidance of an accomplished international screenwriters and directors in an environment that encourages storytelling at the highest level.
The first Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Institute Screenwriting Lab will be launched in March 2012 in India.
