Dube’s film won the award in the narrative category for domestic film schools.
Our Correspondent
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the winners of its 47th Student Academy Awards earlier this week, with Indian filmmaker Karishma Dube’s Bittu bagging an award in the Narrative (Domestic Film Schools) category for New York University.
The Academy revealed the names of 18 winners in seven categories on 15 September, and the award ceremony will take place in a virtual programme on 21 October.
Dube’s co-winners in the narrative category were University of Southern California student Rommel Villa Barriga for Sweet Potatoes and fellow New York University pupil Talia Smith for Umama.
Bittu, based on a true story, is a tale of two schoolgirls' friendship set in a Himalayan village. It is Dube's third directorial venture after the short films Pia (2015) and Devi: Goddess (2017). Devi, which was featured on BBC World, was also screened at 45 festivals around the world in 2018.
The award-winning films can compete for the Best Animated Short Film, Best Live Action Short Film and Documentary (Short Subject) Oscars next year. For this year’s edition of the Student Academy Awards, 1,474 films were entered from 207 domestic and 121 international colleges and universities.
Oscar-winning filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis and Pete Docter have previously won this competition.
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