Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India’s (FTII) student production Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know has emerged as the only movie from an Indian film school to make it to the competitive La Cinef section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, the organisers announced on Tuesday.
Out of 2,263 submissions from film schools worldwide, Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know was among the 18 films — 14 live-action and 4 animated films — selected for the La Cinef section.
Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know is directed by Chidanand Naik, shot by Suraj Thakur, and edited by Manoj V. The film's sound design is crafted by Abhishek Kadam. The Film was produced as part of FTII’s year end coordinated exercise of TV- wing.
According to FTII, the film “is a story of an elderly woman who steals the village's rooster, which throws the community into disarray. To bring the rooster back, a prophecy is invoked, sending the old lady's family into exile”.
Sharing the excitement, FTII's official handle tweeted, “Big Announcement! We are honoured to share that FTII’s student film 'Sunflowers were the first ones to know' is selected to compete at 77th Cannes Film Festival. It is the only Indian film among 18 shorts selected from 2,263 entries by film schools all over the world.”
Belgian actress Lubna Azabal heads the jury for the La Cinef section, which includes French filmmaker Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Italian film programmer Paolo Moretti, French producer-director Claudine Nougaret and Serbian filmmaker Vladimir Perišić. Winners in this category will be honoured at a ceremony preceding the screening of the awarded films on May 23 at the Buñuel Theatre.
Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know is the fifth film by an Indian filmmaker to be selected for Cannes 2024. Earlier, Payal Kapadia's debut feature film All We Imagine as Light secured a spot for screening in the competitive segment of this year's Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, Sandhya Suri's Santosh, starring Shahana Goswami and Sanjay Bishnoi, has earned a place in the festival's Un Certain Regard section. Karan Kandhari’s debut feature film Sister Midnight is also set to premiere at Quinzaine des Cinéastes (Directors' Fortnight). Maisam Ali’s feature film In Retreat has also been selected for the Acid section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Furthermore, Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov's The Shameless, featuring Mita Vashisht, Tanmay Dhanania, Auroshikha Dey, and Rohit Kokate, is also slated for screening in the Un Certain Regard category.
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to commence on May 14 and will run till May 25.
