Odia filmmaker’s silent short film wins Best Film award in Bangladesh

Odia filmmaker Abhishek Swain’s silent short film ‘Life Drop’ won the Best Film Award at the just concluded ‘Human Rights Short Film Festival’ held in Bangladesh.

Competing among 738 films across 82 countries, Swain’s film bagged the first prize. The two-day-long international film festival was jointly organised by the Dhaka University Film Society (DUFS) and United Nations marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“A child dies every 30 seconds by consuming contaminated water in tribal areas, which is a matter of concern. I have portrayed the subject, with a background sound of timer referring count down”, said the self-taught young filmmaker.

“The 30-second long film was earlier rejected at a film festival in our state. My film has two layers, one for the general audience and another for the critics, which is the deeper essence. I feel encouraged as the deep thought behind the film got noticed,” says Swain, whose film, ‘A Daughter’s Letter’ had won the Best Film Award at Ignite Film Festival in 2018.

Abhishek Swain is also working with some of the projects of acclaimed filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda. “I am assisting a few production houses, which is a part of learning,” says the promising filmmaker.

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