Journalism of Courage
A DIPLOMA film named Kula by a student of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) directed by Indranil Kashyap has bagged the prestigious Jury Special Award in 10th edition of SiGNS – The Indian Festival of Documentaries and Short Features for John Abraham National Awards, Kochi, Kerala.
SiGNS is a platform for showcasing digital videos– documentaries and short fiction. The award was instituted in 1999 by the Kerala Region of Federation of Film Societies of India in memory of John Abraham– a filmmaker, short story writer and screenwriter from Kerala who made his mark with the Tamil film Agraharathil Kazhuthai, but is possibly remembered most for his efforts in starting a people’s cinema movement, an absolute form of independent filmmaking called Odessa Collective.
The film Kula has been honoured, as citation mentions, “for its dark, quirky cinematic experimentation and its zany, critical comment on contemporary consumerism.” From 2005, the competition was extended to the national level, and the festival renamed as SiGNS.
