A 20-minute short film is currently taking the international film festival circuit by storm, having recently won the Youth Jury Prize and the Special Jury Recognition for Outstanding Performance by a Child (Joy Mwandla) at the 15th Aspen Shortfest in Colorado. Lucky was written and directed by Briton Avie Luthra and produced by Durban-based Junaid Ahmed and has won a number of other awards (listed below), as well as being nominated for a BAFTA.
The film tells the story of an Aids orphan desperate to leave his rural Zulu village for the bright lights of Durban. He is full of excitement and hope but Lucky has to learn about life the hard way, not through school or education…but through an unlikely bond with a racist Indian neighbour.
Ahmed says that it is remarkable that this film was made at all. “We had limited resources, hardly any money and all the actors in Lucky were either non-professional or semi-professional. The crew, comprising a small band of professionals and mostly trainees, agreed to work for nothing – as did the cast. For most of them this was their first film and so the training component of this production was very high.”
The Aspen Shortsfest is an Oscar Academy Award-qualifying competition. Says Ahmed: “Our screening received a resounding ovation and I was overwhelmed by the interest in the film, both by local Aspenites and the international filmmakers who attended the festival. They were emotionally drawn in by the story, astounded by the performances of non-professional film actors, excited by the craft of storytelling and for many of them, the film resonated with its freshness in style and content.”
According to Ahmed, a major dilemma facing short film producers is trying to find an outlet for exhibition outside film festivals. An expert panel at Aspen broadened his knowledge as to the proliferation of screening/distribution channels which included iTunes to cell phone, from cable and broad brand services, the Internet and beyond. This panel comprised of Kim Adelman (short film columnist for indieWIRE, former short film producer for Fox Movie Channel and author of The Ultimate Filmmaker’s Guide to Short Films), Linda Olszewski (Head of N. and S. American Acquisitions, Development, Production for Shorts International), Megan O’Neill (Vice President of Acquisitions & Development for AtomFilms), and Romen Podzyhun (Chair & CEO of Channel Zero and corporate head of programming for Movieola – The Short Film Channel).
Ahmed concludes: “Aspen Shortfest 2006 was not only an affirmation that our films can compete with the best in the world but it also afforded me the opportunity to extend my knowledge in terms of marketing our films – including selling skills and ideas. It was also an incredible platform to network and build relationships with an international band of filmmakers from Palestine, Australia, England, Norway, USA and many other countries. It also focused my own work in terms of developing specific goals and the affirmation that we continue to tell our own unique stories in our visionary voices and that these do find resonances and critical acclaim in the rest of the world.”
Lucky’s awards to date:
*Nominated: BAFTA Best Short Film 2006
*Winner Film Council Completion Fund 2005
*Winner: Special Mention AFI Fest LA 2005
*Winner Special Mention Clermont Ferrand 2006
*Winner Best Narrative short Cinequest San Jose 2006
*Winner Best Short Film Bradford International FFest 2006
*Winner Best Short Film (Youth Jury) Milan African/Asian/Latin FFest 2006
*Winner SENSIS award Honorable Mention Milan AAL FFest 2006
*Winner ISMU Special Mention Milan AAL FFest 2006
*Winner REMI award Houston WorldFest 2006
*Winner Honorable Mention IndieProducer Awards, LA 2006
*Winner Youth Jury Award Aspen Shortfest, Colorado 2006
*Winner Special Jury Recognition for Outstanding Performance by a Child, AspenShortfest, Colorado 2006
