Cannes is the new destination for city's short film makers, atleast five shorts accepted this year

The French seaside town of Cannes seems to be the destination for aspiring film makers in the city as more and more short film makers from Chennai are now heading to France to garner the fame of a world premier release for their work. Atleast five short film makers in Chennai have got their work accepted for being screened in the Short Film Corner at Cannes this year so far.

Until a few years ago, short film makers in the city targeted only competitions organized by local TV channels or to impress producers with their work. “But that trend is now gradually changing and youngsters are now taking the medium of short films seriously,” says Hari Vishwanath (35) who has got two of his films screened at the Short Film Corner of the Festival De Cannes so far.

“I have sent a film produced by me this year too and plans are on to attend the festival,” Hari says. According to him, the trend began in 2011 when the Tamil short film “Amma” was screened at Cannes. “During the next year, my film “Idukan” was screened in the Short Film Corner along with another Tamil film and in 2013, a total of three Tamil films were screened including my film Pesum Virus,” he says.

On Tuesday, city-based film maker Vijay Jayapal (31), a former HR professional who turned to cinema, got acceptance from the festival committee for screening his short ‘Surreal’ in the Short Film Corner of the festival.

“I had made this film for sending to global film festivals and am elated at the acceptance. Besides adding to my value as a film maker, I hope that attending the festival will be a learning experience,” he says.

Vijay points out that while not many in Kollywood are still aware of the prestigious event, the word is spreading fast. “It is heartening to see so many youngsters shoot for top destination in cinema,” he says.

Senthil Kumar (39), another short film maker whose film ‘Life’ has been accepted in the same category this year, hopes that premiering his work to an International audience will help him grow as better film maker. “Instead of merely visiting and watching others films, it is great to take our own work and attend the festival,” he says.

Of the two categories for screening short films at Cannes, all the local film makers have so far been only accepted in the ‘Short Film Corner’ where around 3000 to 4000 films from across the world would be screened. “The finalists for the competition section of the festival will be announced only next month and if one of us reaches there, it would be a real honour,” says Hari.