A blind man was trying to cross the road, but no passerby came forward to help him. A small girl, who had come with her mother to a shop, noticed the blind person and instinctively stepped out to help him. At the same time, some schoolchildren having noticed the blind man and the small girl tried to stop the vehicles to facilitate them to cross the road.”
This is the story of Abhishek Brahma and Basanta Patnaik’ s one-minute documentary film Step, which was screened at a function organised by Aaina at a hotel here on Saturday. The film got the Special Mentor Award in the one-minute category in the We Care Film Festival in New Delhi.
Some other filmmakers of Odisha have also won national awards in the We Care Film Festival for their documentary films on disabilities issues. These documentaries were screened and shortlisted in an earlier-held film fest organised by Aaina in October 2012 in Bhubaneswar, and after that 17 films were selected to be screened at the national level.
In this regard, Aaina felicitated these talented filmmakers on the occasion of Helen Keller’s death anniversary. Participating as the chief guest, eminent film director Raju Mishra said, “These films, within such short spans of time can explain the relevant issues what we cannot explain in three-hour movies. The objective and thinking behind these films are above my comprehension.”
Eminent guests, film personality and educationist Sarat Pujari, theatre writer Ananta Mahapatra and State Commissioner for the Persons with Disabilities Kastruri Mohapatra also spoke at the event.
Besides Step, three other films, Santosh Panda’s The Attitude, Nibedita Das’ Why and Subhaprada Sumit Nayak’s One Feet were also screened on the occasion. Nibedita Das received the second prize for her film in the We Care festival and the two other movies got special mention awards in the five-minute category. All these directors were felicitated at the event. Aaina secretary Sneha Mishra gave the welcome address and Geetika Chandra made a background presentation of the We Care Film Festival.