Streaming platform ZEE5 Global today announced the winners and winning entries of the recently concluded 2021 Global Content Festival.
The 15 winners across multiple continents will have their films showcased on ZEE5 free to watch for viewers across the globe.
Singapore-based independent filmmaker Shilpa Krishnan Shukla emerged as the Global Content Festival Winner with three entries in the Drama films category (Kathaah@8, Tashi and Dots).
Kathaah@8 is the world's first anthology in eight languages, written, produced and directed by a single filmmaker. Tashi is a bilingual English-Hindi film shot in Singapore, which tells a heartwarming story about family and relationships. DOTS is a film made during the lockdown about ten emotionally isolated people connecting over an imaginary app called ‘DOTS’.
Another winner from Singapore was Lockdown chyaa Polyaa (translated: Flatbreads during the lockdown), a collaborative short film by Gautam Marathe (Singapore), Swapna Mirashi (USA) about life, love, food, parenting and more during these contemporary times.
"The idea behind launching the Global Content Festival was to give independent filmmakers and content creators a platform through which they could showcase their content and find audiences across the globe, especially during a difficult year. It’s been quite a task to pick out 15 gems from among so many fabulous entries," said Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global.
From India, Shivam Hora (Peeli Machli); Himanshu Pathak, Payel Saxena (Echoes); Kumar Siddharth (The Last Meal); Sagnik Bhattacharjee (Waqt); Preet (Gray) and Bhausaheb Lokhande (Janeev) were also winners.
Thanvir Chowdhury (Dear Trotsky), Irfan Rahman (LEVEL FIVE – 60's LOVE) and Kazi Riad Omar (Shobdojot feat. Swad) from Bangladesh; Nilay Dave (Gandhiji My Mentor) from the USA; Tanwi Gouri Mehta and Dr Anil Kumar Mehta (Madhav – Every Child Needs A Mentor) from the Netherlands; Ruchi Undevia and Aarti Trikannad (Love Beyond Borders) from Dubai and Tanzila Khan and Moiz Abbas (Fruit Chaat) from Pakistan round out the top 15 entries.
Filmmakers experimented with genres ranging from drama and mystery to lifestyle and across formats from documentaries to short films and music videos, presenting their diversity and creativity. The festival received entries in a motley of languages including Hindi, English, Marathi, Bangla, Tamil and Malayalam.