India shines at Cannes! Two debutant directors receive 1st & 3rd prize in La Cinef

Indian cinema has emerged a winner at the 77th Cannes Film Festival! Two Indian films - Chidananda S Naik’s ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’ and Mansi Maheshwari’s animated movie ‘Bunnyhood’ bagged first and third prizes in the La Cinef category.

‘Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know’ is the maiden directorial venture of Naik. Naik is a doctor-turned-director and an alumnus of the Film & Television Institute Of India. The heart wrenching movie is based on a local folklore of Karnataka which narrates a tale of an aging woman who steals a rooster.

Mansi Maheshwari's animation film ‘Bunnyhood’ clinched the third prize in the La Cinef competition. Hailing from Meerut and an alumna of NIFT Delhi, Maheshwari crafted the film during her tenure at the UK's National Film and Television School.


The second prize was jointly awarded to ‘Out of the Widow Through the Wall’ directed by Asya Segalovich from Columbia University, and ‘The Chaos She Left Behind’ created by Nikos Kolioukos from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. At the Cannes Film Festival, the first prize winner receives a grant of 15,000 euros, the runner-up gets 11,250 euros, and the third prize recipient is awarded 7,500 euros.

These acclaimed films are scheduled for screenings at Cinema du Pantheon on June 3 and at MK2 Quai de Seine on June 4.

Naik's first prize marks India's second victory in five years. Previously, in 2020, Ashmita Guha Neogi, also an alumna of FTII, secured the award for her film 'CatDog.'

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