Malayalam film The God’s Ink , a three-minute film shot by Ragesh Vijay that delves into the vital role blood plays in saving life, was adjudged the best and walked away with a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh in the national short film competition organised by www.friends2support.org on the occasion of National Blood Donation Day.
The first runner up was Red Balloons produced by Bernadine Bernardino, a post-graduate student from Manila, Philippines, while the third prize was shared by Who is God produced by R. Manigandan of Tamil Nadu and The Painter produced by Sanjeevi Mohapatra of Mumbai.
A galaxy of film personalities from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu attended the screening of 20 short films and awards presentation function, along with Assistant Director General, National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC), Shobini Rajan.
At the function, she said that the Government of India would promote the 20 best documentaries screened in the competition to inspire youth.
More than 200 participants of the short-film competition and volunteers of the Friends To Support Organisation cheered Telugu cine director Sekhar Kammula and music director R.P. Patnaik while they presented the awards to the winners.
Five special prizes were given out to short films that could not make it to the final 15. The Vels University Chancellor, Ishari Ganeshan, Padmabhushan K. Varaprasada Reddy, noted photographer Arvind Chenji, Mumbai-based animation film-maker Vaibhav Kumaresh, some of other the jury members were also present at the ceremony.
