PSBT announces Film Challenge 2020

The Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) has announced the PSBT Film Challenge 2020, an opportunity for aspiring and professional filmmakers to showcase their talent.

The challenge invites filmmakers to reflect on their COVID-19 pandemic experience and make short films on the subject.

The competition is being supported by PSBT in partnership with the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The details for the challenge read, 'Given the already challenging circumstances of filmmaking in India, made worse by the pandemic, PSBT feels the imperative to provide an opportunity to anyone interested in the cinematic form to engage with the "new normal".

'Through this challenge, we hope to encourage storytellers with diverse backgrounds to engage with the possibilities of filmmaking through a crisis like this and award those who demonstrate excellence and promise.'

The statement added, 'The idea behind the challenge is to create a record of this unusual time and to invite cinematic reflections on this new reality that has forced all of us to reconsider our choices and lives.'

The challenge invites both professional and amateur filmmakers and the films entered could be fiction or non-fiction. The films have to be less than 10 minutes in duration and while there is no age criterion for the challenge, only three entries are allowed per applicant. 

The competition is open to all residents of India and there are over 25 awards to be won in all, with Rs1.5 lakh being the highest prize money in the professional category and Rs1 lakh in the amateur category.

The last date for submission of entries is 21 December 2020. Participants can register for the challenge online. Click here for details.