LAHORE: Three graduates of the National College of Arts (NCA) could not receive their awards as they were denied a visa by Indian authorities to attend the South Asian Short and Documentary film festival organised as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmadabad.

Jury members of Alpavirama 2011, the festival organised by the film and video communication department of NID from Feb 18 to 20, gave away three of the top awards to Pakistani filmmakers Naveed Anjum, Muhammad Ali Ijaz and Nisar Ahmad.

Directed by Anjum, Kalu received the Golden Comma (Fiction) trophy and Missing Vultures by Ijaz got the Golden Comma (Documentary) trophy. Both filmmakers were also to receive a cash prize of Indian Rs15,000 each.

Nisar Ahmed’s film Burning Paradise bagged the Special Mention of the Jury (Documentary) award.

Coincidentally, directors Anjum and Ijaz were unaware about their victory and came to know about it only when reporter of an Indian newspaper informed them on Feb 13. Along with their five fellows, they approached Indian authorities in Islamabad but were informed that visas could not be granted to them owing to procedural hiccups.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/22/2011