Chidanand and Anasuya Sengupta create history at Cannes Film Festival

Chidanand Naik and Anasuya Sengupta created history at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which is being held in Cannes, France. Chidanand Naik's film ‘Sunflowers Were the First to Know’ won the La Cinef Award for Best Short Film, while Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to win the Best Actress award for her film Shameless. The Cannes Film Festival, first held in 1946, is now considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Chidanand Naik’s achievement 

Students of the prestigious FTII have won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, but this was the first time that a film made by a student from a 1-year Television course has won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Chidanand Naik's short film ‘Sunflowers Were the First to Know’ won the La Cinef Award for Best Short at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Chidanand Naik made the film a part of his coursework at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. 

About the Film ‘Sunflowers Were the First to Know

 The film "Sunflowers Were the First to Know” was a joint collaboration of four students of the FTII’s TV wings 1-year programme as part of their coursework. It was directed by Chidananda S Naik, filmed by Suraj Thakur, edited by Manoj V, and sound by Abhishek Kadam. All these students passed out in 2023.

Anasuya Sengupta became 1st Indian to win Best Actress Award at Cannes

Actress Anasuya Sengupta created history at the Cannes Film Festival by winning the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard segment. She became the first Indian to win the Best Actress award in any category at the Cannes Film Festival. 

Anasuya Sengupta was honoured for her excellent performance in the film Shameless, directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Constantin Bojanov. 

The film Shameless is based on the story of a sex worker who escapes from a brothel in Delhi after stabbing a policeman. The film sensitively portrays a human story of survival and resilience.

La Cinef Award and Un Certain Regard segment 

The ‘La Cinef’ section of the Cannes Film Festival recognises the best short films made by students of film schools worldwide. This year, 18 films were selected for the final round.  

The Un Certain Regard segment recognises and honours unique and original stories from around the world.

Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)

The Film and Television Institutes of India were set up in 1960 as Film Institutes of India. In 1971, it was renamed as Film and Television Institutes of india.

It is an autonomous society under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Today, FTII is recognised as a centre for excellence in audiovisual media worldwide and one of the best film institutes in India.

It offers courses in various disciplines of filmmaking and Television 

Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra 

President: R. Madhavan