KATHMANDU, Nov 21: The fifth Ekadeshma International Short Film Festival 2017 concluded on Sunday with a closing ceremony where few of the outstanding films among the 99 shorts films screened at QFX Kumari Cinemas, Kamalpokhari, were awarded.

In the program, it was announced that the movie titled 'Lachhamaniya' directed by Bikas Neupane (Nepal) was voted the best film by the audience.

'Death of a Sound Man' by director Sorayos Minimal Prapapan (Thailand) received the Best Short Film award in Changing Perspective section. ‘Mare Nostrum’ of Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf (Syria/France) and ‘Silver Bangles’ of Roshan Bikram Thakuri (Nepal) received special mentions in Changing Perspective section. The awardees for the section were decided by a jury comprising of Manisha Koirala, Paolo Bertolin and Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.

Likewise, ‘Lejla’ directed by Stijn Bouma (Bosnia and Herzegovina) was the Best Short Film in Future of Cinema section with special mentions ‘SOG’ by Jonatan Schwenk (Germany) and ‘Afternoon Clouds’ by Payal Kapadia (India). For this section, the decision was made by a jury of Namrata Shrestha, Yangesh Yangessh and Abu Shahed Emon.

Apart from the film screening, three panel discussions were also held at QFX halls on consecutive dates. In the first discussion held on Saturday, panelist Sophie Bourdon, Paolo Bertolin and Abu Shahed Emon discussed ‘Opening Doors’ section for Festival Del Film Locarno. The next day Ramyata Limbu, Reecha Sharma, Sampada Malla and Menuka Rai discussed ‘Women in Films’ while Abu Shahed Emon, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, Prachanda Man Shrestha and Madhav Wagle discussed ‘South Asian Co-Operation’ exploring possibilities of co-production between the South Asian nations under the shadow of Bollywood, on the last day.

The 99 films that were screened in the Festival came from different parts of the world and were categorized into five sections. Among them ‘Let There Be Light’ featured films that revolved around topics for upliftment of society regardless of its weaknesses; ‘Changing Perspective’ promoted new idea and new way of thinking; ‘Future of Cinema’ was a section for the student filmmakers; ‘Power’ touched the issues of women empowerment; and ‘Made in Bangladesh’ featured short films from Bangladeshi filmmakers.

These films told stories of different contemporary issues, cultural and social struggles, from their perspectives. Like the movies, audience seen in the venue were also from different walks of life. The films screened were selected from more than 1,000 submissions that came in this year from all over the world. “We realized that short filmmakers lacked the platform to screen their works. Films are such great tool to induce a thought process and this year too we selected films that would give a chance for people to debate and change what's not working in the society,” Prachanda Man Shrestha, Programming Director for EISFF. 

The Festival had started with the screening four films--A Gentle Night (Chinese), Retouch (Iranian), Taste of Love (Austria) and Silver Bangles (Nepali)--in the opening program on Friday. The Festival ended with a note to bring more stories next year in a program held on 
Sunday.