Mysore/Mysuru: For every actor and technician, who aims at making big in the film industry, dreams of making it to the Cannes Film Festival at least once in a life time. And to win the prestigious Cannes La Cinef award is nothing but a dream come true.

For Mysuru-based Dr. Chidananda S. Naik, the dream came true after his short film ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’ won the first prize of La Cinef for Best Short Film at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’ is based on a popular Kannada folklore ‘Ajjiya Jamba’ where an elderly woman believes stealing a rooster will not allow the sun to rise.

‘Sunflowers were the First Ones to Know’ is a 16-minute short story of a village thrown into chaos by an elderly woman who steals a rooster. To bring the rooster back, a prophecy is invoked, sending the old lady’s family into exile.

Dr. Chidananda is an alumnus of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI). After completing his MBBS course, Chidananda joined the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and graduated in Film Direction.

He is the son of Prof. Shekar Naik, Head, Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Yuvaraja’s College and Vinoda Bai, residents of Kuvempunagar in city.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Prof. Shekar Naik said that he was proud of Dr. Chidananda’s achievement.

“He had worked on it with complete dedication and concentration. He was always interested in theatre and film since childhood. The first introduction to theatre came when he attended ‘Chinnara Mela’ in Rangayana. He used to write and direct his own scripts in school and college. In fact, when he showed interest  to completely dedicate himself to film making, we told him to complete his education as he was a meritorious students as well. While, he had also cleared the IIT Main Entrance Examination, we asked  him to join Medicine as he had the option of joining Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI),”  said Prof. Shekar.

La Cinef consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of 2,263 entries coming from 555 film schools around the Globe, Naik’s film won the first prize with a grant of 15,000 Euros (approximately Rs. 13.52 lakh).