Short film fest to revive 'forgotten' grain

A competition organised to revive the importance of a 'forgotten' grain may be new to the short film genre but that's what the 11th edition of the development film festival, by DHAN Foundation has in store. The NGO is organizing a short film competition for students, focusing on the theme "Small Millets: Our Food! Our Pride". The idea is to create awareness among people about small millets and also to generate political will to promote the legacy of our traditional food culture.
"This short film contest is aimed at reviving the legacy of our native food by promoting images of small millets-based traditional food. The three best films will get a cash prize of 25,000 each," said M Vignesh, coordinator of the festival.
Small millets are one of the oldest grains known to humans and possibly the first cereal grain to be used for domestic purposes. "These tiny millets are known for their superior nutritional properties including high micronutrient and dietary fiber content and low glycemic index when compared to rice and wheat. But today it is largely forgotten due to various reasons. We want to revive the importance of millets through the competition," said Vignesh.
The duration of the short film must not exceed three minutes excluding the titles in the beginning and the end. The entries should be send in HD/DVD/VCD format along with the submission form before September 5 (http://www.dhan.org/dff).
Screening of the short films will be held at the Thamukkam ground in Madurai, from September 20 to 24.