Cuttack: The National Road Safety Short Film Festival 2023 has received an overwhelming response with 247 entries from across the country. Filmmakers, amateur film enthusiasts and students have submitted entries in form of documentary, experimental, narrative, fiction, non-fiction and animation format.
There are entries in 7 languages from 7 states. The qualified entries include 145 films in Odia language and 75 films in non- Odia languages .This includes 8 animation films and 7 silent films. Apart from Odia language, there are quite a few entries in Santhali language as well from tribal belts of the State. There are also entries in Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam and English on various aspects of road safety. Apart from Odisha there are entries from Punjab, Maharashtra, Kerala, Assam, Delhi and West Bengal. This year students from our neighbouring countries which include Nepal, Bangladesh and Kenya who are studying in Bhubaneswar have also sent films for the festival.
Winners will be selected by a judging panel of film industry professionals and non-industry professionals, luminaries from different walks of life. The shortlisted films will be screened at Berhampur on 01 December, Sambalpur on 04 December and Angul on 07 December. The grand finale of the festival will be held in Bhubaneswar on 12 December.
The festival organized by Transport Department, Govt. of Odisha aims to raise awareness of road safety issues and promote increased engagement in road safety cooperation in the state of Odisha as well as across the nation to reduce the road accidents and fatalities related to it.The first edition of the festival organised in 2022, a first-of-its-kind event in the country was appreciated by Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety and was adjudged as one of the best practices for Road Safety awareness.
The best film in both Odia and non-Odia categories will get a cash award of Rs 1 lakh, first runner-up will get Rs 80,000 and the second runner-up will receive Rs 60,000.The best director, best music, cinematography and best actor/actress will get Rs. 25,000 each in both the categories.
