High Honours For Fani Film In US

High Honours For Fani Film In US

‘Mercy of God’, a poignant film portraying Odisha after Cyclone Fani, has won six major awards at the 12th NoHu International Short Film Festival 2019 in New Jersey, USA.

The film won the awards for the Best Film, Best Director (Amartya Bhattacharyya), Best Original Score (Kisaloy Roy), Best Editing (Amartya Bhattacharyya), Best Cinematography (Amartya Bhattacharyya) and Best Producer (Priyanka Ghosh Roy).

The festival, which was held in Union City, screened 8 selected films from different parts of the world on October 11. ‘Mercy of God’ was the only Indian entry in the list.

With soul-stirring music and no spoken words, the film touches the right chord with the audience and makes one understand the real state of the Fani-affected areas and the people there. Like his previous films ‘Capital I’, ‘Khyanikaa’ and ‘Runanubandha’, composer Kisaloy Roy has given brilliant music in this film too.

Amartya, a national award-winning director, said, “The film has won in all major categories, which is an exception I would say. I am glad that our dedicated efforts in every department of filmmaking have got recognition.

“Honestly speaking, I did not shoot this by thinking of making a film. Normally, I make films out of passion, but I have made ‘Mercy of God’ because I felt like it’s my social responsibility. Thanks to my producer Priyanka Ghosh Roy, who suggested me the same,” he added.

“I also want to emphasize the fact that this film was made with almost no budget, no crew on the shoot, no plan, no script, and no industry equipment. Yet it has won, and in technical categories like cinematography, music, and editing. It is yet another reassurance that infrastructure and technology is just an enabler and not the deciding factor in art,” he said.

The director proudly informed that ‘Mercy of God’ was the only film from Asia to have won awards in the festival. “Even from the most devastating condition, I have tried to extract some hope. I hope the film gets more recognition in the days to come. It’s not me or my team, but the undaunted spirit of Odisha, which gets recognized through these honors,” he added.

Watch the full movie here: