NHRC honours the eights winners of its short film competition on human rights

New Delhi, 8th February, 2021

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India today organized an online film festival of award winning short films on human rights and a function to present the awards to the winners of its 2020 short film competition. NHRC Members, Mr Justice P.C. Pant, Mrs. Jyotika Kalra and Dr. D.M. Mulay presented the awards in the presence of Secretary General, Mr. Bimbadhar Pradhan and other senior officers.

Mr. Ravindra Jadhav was awarded the first prize of Rs. 2 lakh and a certificate for his film “Thalsar Bangsar”. It raises the concerns on and the conflict between practicing the folk tradition and the challenges of sustainable livelihood through education. The second prize of Rs. 1.5 lakh was jointly given to Nitin Ganorkar for his film “Womb of Melghat” and to Thomas Jacob for his film “Annam”. The “Womb of Melghat” highlights the violation of human rights of Tribals, displaced in Maharashtra and “Annam” focuses on the right to food and clean environment.

The third prize of Rs. 1 lakh was also jointly given to Jaya Jose Raj for his film “and thus man gets crushed” on business activities causing environmental hazards and Vinod Garud for his film “Sappar” on the right to health care. The three “Certificates of Special Mention” were awarded to Rashid Nimbalkar for his film “Dumroo”, Gauravisinh Revar for “Saraswati” and Ms. Gautami Berde for her film “The woman on the street”.

Congratulating the winners, Mr. Justice P.C. Pant, in his keynote address said that the films have evolved as a very effective medium of expression on human life and sentiments, crossing the geographical boundaries of nations. These have proved to be very useful instruments for providing information, education and entertainment, which are an integral part of human existence. Just as a feature film can be described like a novel on celluloid, a short film may be described as a poem conveying a plethora of well layered thoughts in a very crisp manner.

NHRC Member, Dr. D.M. Mulay, as the chair of the jury, expressed happiness that the idea of the Commission is blossoming with several short films being made on various aspects of human rights, particularly by the youth in various parts of the county in different Indian languages.

Earlier, NHRC Secretary General Mr. Bimbadhar Pradhan, giving an insight into the short film competition of the Commission, noted that despite the challenges of Covid-19 and the lockdowns, people’s efforts in raising concerns about human rights through short films has been remarkable. The Commission received 93 entries this year compared to 88 entries last year.

Senior officers of the Commission, including the Registrar (Law), Mr. Surajit Ray, Joint Secretaries, Mr. R.K. Khandelwal and Mrs. Anita Sinha, DIG, Mrs. Manzil Saini and external expert Member of the Jury and National Award Winner, Mr. Arun Chadha and staff were present on the occasion.

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