“Shunte Ki Pao!” wins jury award in Film Southasia '13

Kamar Ahmed Simon's feature-length documentary “Shunte Ki Pao!” (Are You Listening!), has won the jury award at Film Southasia (FSA) 2013, according to a press release. The ninth edition of Film Southasia 2013 was held at QFX Kumari, Kamalpokhari in Kathmandu from October 3-6.
The festival showcased a total of 55 documentary and non-fiction films from around South Asia and the diaspora on diverse issues. Out of the 382 submissions that were received, 34 were selected for the competition. Many were award-winning films that had received some of the highest honors in filmmaking. FSA also featured two specially curated film packages; one, in association with Ahmedabad based National Institute of Design's (NID) Alpavirama and second, a dedicated section on Afghanistan titled Afghan Eyes curated by independent journalist Taran Khan.
In addition to screenings, the festival featured talks and panel discussions including one on issues of South Asian representation, one on the ecology of the documentary, and an impromptu panel discussion on censorship that featured editor of Nepali Times Kunda Dixit, Nepali journalist and novelist Narayan Wagle, Bangladeshi photographer and social activist Dr. Shahidul Alam and Burmese film maker Thet Oo Maung.
FSA 2013 Jury was chaired by acclaimed art critic and journalist Sadanand Menon from Chennai, who was accompanied by Shahidul Alam and film maker, producer and currently public media director at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Sapana Sakya of Kathmandu.
The Jury awarded five awards including the Ram Bahadur Trophy for best film to “Algorithms” by Ian McDonald, the QFX Jury Awards to “Invoking Justice” by Deepa Dhanraj and “Shunte Ki Pao!” by Kamar Ahmed Simon, the Tareque Masud Award for Best Debut film to “No. 62 Pansodan Street” by Cho Phyone. The festival introduced a new award this year titled the UNICEF Nepal Award which was given to “Char… No Man's Island” by Sourav Sarangi. “No Fire Zone” by Callum Macrae received a special jury mention.