'Nishiddho' adjudged the best at Ottawa Indian film fest

'Nishiddho', the first film produced by Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) as part of the State government's pioneering project to support aspiring women directors, bagged the Best Feature Film Award at the Ottawa Indian Film Festival Awards (OIFFA).

The film, scripted and directed by Tara Ramanujan, earned her the FFSI K R Mohanan Award for the Best Debut Director from India at the International Competition Section of the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 (IFFK), a release issued by KSFDC said.

The movie bagged the Best Feature Film at OIFFA shortly after winning the Second Best Film award in the 52nd State Film Awards this year, the release said.

The June 14-18 online film festival had a strong competition segment of Indian films with around 14 feature films and five short films being screened at the OIFFA, an exclusive film festival conducted in Canada for filmmakers from India and the Indian diaspora as well as films featuring Indian content, it said. Nishiddho is one of the two films produced by KSFDC under the government's project to support and mainstream aspiring women directors, an initiative for empowerment of women by giving wings to their creative talent, the release said.

The other film 'Divorce', directed by debutant Mini I G, would hit the big screen before Onam while Nishiddho would have its theatrical release after the festival, it said and added that the government has exempted both the films from entertainment tax as a special gesture to support women empowerment initiatives.

Commenting on the OIFFA win, KSFDC chairman Shri Shaji N Karun said it's a great honour for a woman filmmaker from Kerala and the award would infuse huge confidence in aspiring women directors, who would like to be part of the corporation's initiative, the release said. Nishiddho, which means forbidden, showcases a relationship that blooms between a Bengali man and a Tamil woman at their workplace in Kerala.

Kani Kusruti plays the character Chaavi and Tanmay Dhanania plays Rudra, an idol-maker from Kolkata, the release said.

Established in 1975, KSFDC is the first public sector corporation for film development in India.

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