Indica Pictures, a seven-year-old organisation founded by Hari Vadlamani, is organising a short film contest in memory of legendary director K Viswanath and will be announcing the winners on November 8 at Prasad Labs Preview Theatre, Hyderabad.
In April 2023, entries were invited from aspiring filmmakers and film students. From the 1169 registrations received from 11 countries, 177 films made the first cut and 20 were shortlisted by the organisation’s programming team headed by Nikita Hattangady. These films were then evaluated by a panel consisting of directors Bharath Kamma, Kasinadhuni Nagendra, Vivek Athreya and singer Parthu Nemanigaru.
Eight films have been selected for the final nominations and the top three winning films will be screened on November 8.
The eight films are Ananya by Aishwarya Perambai, Kittu Katha by Nikhil Kumar Reddy, Navarasa Madhanam by Prudhvi Raj Thumula, Sangamam by Prakash Vakkalanka, Sivaagna by Shanmukha Karthik, Sivaagnya by Sistla VMK, Sreekaram by Srini Prabhala and Ram Mohan Komanduri, and The Imam by Saba Mumtaz.
Danji Thotapalli, co-founder of Indica Pictures, says the films were selected after months of evaluation and K Viswanath’s son K Nagendra joined the team and provided his inputs during the process.
The final shortlist of eight films are being judged by a jury consisting of producers Allu Aravind, Shobu Yarlagadda, actor and danseuse Manju Bhargavi and actor Radhika Sarathkumar.
The three winning filmmakers will be awarded a cash prize of ₹5,00,000 each. Awards for best actor, best child actor, best song, best story and best oroduction will also be awarded.
Indica Pictures platforms visual arts professionals to help produce positive content celebrating Indic and indigenous civilisational thought. The organisation also conducts an annual film festival called Indic Film Utsav. The fourth Indic Film Utsav will begin on November 9 with a screening of director Sandeep Mohan’s Danny Goes Aum at Prasad Labs Preview Theatre. The films that are a part of this festival, from November 9 to 12, can be viewed online at https://indica.pictures. The festival will feature eight narrative features, 12 documentaries and 32 short films. The festival will close with a screening of writer-director Sripal Sama’s English-Telugu film How Is That for a Monday?
