It's a moment of pride for India as the film Sunflowers Were the First One to Know  bagged the first prize of La Cinef on Thursday. Directed by Chidananda S Naik, a student from FTII, Pune, Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know revolves around an elderly woman who steals a rooster and deprives a village of sunlight. 27th La Cinef winners were announced On May 23. The Short Films and La Cinef Jury awarded the 2024 La Cinef Prizes during a grand ceremony at the Bunuel Theatre. Speaking to Variety, Chidananda S Naik shared his experience working on Sunflowers...'"We had only four days. I was basically told not to make this film. It's based on folklore from Karnataka [in India]. We grew up with these stories, so I carried this idea since childhood," he said. Cannes 2024 Start and End Dates: Know the Venue, Star-Studded Celebrity Lineups and All the Details About the Cannes Film Festival.

The Mysuru doctor-turned-filmmaker reportedly made the film at the end of his one-year course in the television wing of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India. Jurors Lubna Azabal, who was the president, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Claudine Nougaret, Paolo Moretti and Vladimir Perisic, also decided to award joint second prize to The Chaos She Left Behind by Nikos Kolioukos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - Greece) and Out the Window Through the Wall by Asya Segalovich (Columbia University - US). The third prize went to Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari (NFTS - United Kingdom). "I was so happy that animation got to compete with live-action. It's all film," noted the director.

FTII Pune Director's Film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know Wins Big at La Cinef

For its 27th edition, La Cinef selected 18 shorts - 14 live-action and 4 animated shorts - from 2,263 submissions from film schools all over the world. It also saw Israel and Palestine competing side by side. This year's program, which "reflected the geographic mobility of film students," stated the organizers, included Crow Man"by Yohann Abdelnour (ALBA - Lebanon), Banished Love directed by Xiwen Cong (Beijing Film Academy - China), It'll Pass (Praeis) by Dovydas Draksas (London Film School - United Kingdom) and Echoes  by Robinson Drossos (ENSAD - France), Variety reported. Us and Them (Mauvais Coton) by Nicolas Dumaret (La Femis - France), Terminal by East Elliott (NYU - U.S.) and Gabriel Esdras' Elevation (Universidad de Guadalajara - Mexico) were also shown. Cannes 2024: 7 Indian Movies To Be Screened at 77th Edition of the Prestigious Film Festival – Check Full List.

Also competing were In Spirito directed by Nicolo Folin (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Italy), The Deer's Tooth by Saif Hammash (Dar Al-Kalima University - Palestine), Weeds (Plevel) by Pola Kazak (FAMO - Czech Republic), Forest of Echoes by Yoori Lim (Korea National University of Arts - South Korea), Withered Blossoms by Lionel Seah (AFTRS - Australia), Three by Amie Song (Columbia University - U.S.) and It's Not Time for Pop by Amit Vaknin (Tel Aviv University - Israel).