A short documentary titled ‘A light that refuses to fade out’ was recently awarded the Best Educational Film of the year by 23rd UGC-CEC Educational Video Competition under the aegis of Communication for Educational Consortium New Delhi.
The documentary, directed by Bobbeeta Sharma, is on late Aruna Mukherjee.
Along with a certificate, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh (which was shared with another film that also received the best film) in a ceremony held in Mysore on November 25, 2021.
The documentary was earlier selected as an official entry at The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) in 2018 and at the South Asian Film Festival in Kolkata in 2019.
It also received Special Jury Mention at the Heritage Short Film Festival under the aegis of the 2nd Guwahati Film Festival in 2018.
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The documentary is a fascinating story of courage, grit, determination and human values.
It is the story of a 101-year-old lady named Aruna Mukherjee (she passed away in 2018), who fulfilled her worldly responsibilities, expected from a traditional Indian society of a daughter, wife and mother but showed exemplary determination in following her instincts of living life on her own terms that is an inspiration to numerous women.
Her empathy towards the sufferers of Partition of 1947 propelled her to give up meals and survive on black tea and biscuits since 1947.
She began to actually live her life all over again in her late sixties when she got her Master’s degree in Music.
She did not surrender to age but age was compelled to surrender to her! Such was her zest for life.