A 30-minute film titled ‘Look At The Sky’ by Ashok Veilou from Manipur’s Purul village in Senapati district won the Best Short fiction award at the 12th International documentary and short film festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) which was held from June 21 to 26 at Thiruvananthapuram, sources said.
The film is about a man who courageously fights for his rights after being outcast from his own birthplace for not supporting the village candidate in the election. It features Ngaole Hepunii of Koide village in the lead role.The role of wife is played Angela Pou and the two sons by Sousii Veipou and Thole Rahavei.
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Ashok Veilou wrote and directed the film, while Pousheru Ngade edited it. Both of them are residents of Purul, 140 km notrh east of Imphal and product of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata.
This short fiction film had competed for the award with 18 other films during the IDSFFK competition category while the second best short fiction title went to ‘Dying Wind in her hair (Bebaak)’ of Director Shazia Iqbal. More than 200 short films and documentaries were screened at the IDSFFK this year, according to organisers.
The six days festival which aims to ensure the participation of both film professionals and audiences in programmes that are designed to trigger dialogue and debates was organised by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
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On getting the award, 28 years old Director Veilou said, “It’s not easy for a village boy with a big dream to make film.”
He said he knew it was going to be a daunting task to shoot the film in a village and he was prepared for the worst and takes the risk to tell a story.
Expressing his gratitude to the people of Purul,Koide, Oinam and Shirong for the making the film possible, he said, “My people are the backbone of the film. I want to tell their stories for the better world.”
In November last year, the film had already won the best film award by beating 11 other short films, at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival.
Earlier one of Veilou’s film ‘Tou-Tai (Seed)’ had won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger for Best Short Film in 2016. Ashok who completed his postgraduate in Direction and Screenplay Writing from SRFTI, Kolkata, is the son of Thaipei Peter of Purul village.
According to family sources, Ashok is a very simple and down to earth person and continue to focus on his career.His elder brother Alexander Leo Pou is also renowned documentary film maker, who presently works in National Film Development Corporation.