Apparently the film’s producers couldn’t afford to be at the venue of such a prestigious festival.
Director Nila Madhab Panda says, “I only got to to know about our film’s hat-trick of triumphs at the Silent River festival when the Festival’s director Kalpana Singh-Chitnis called up to tell me about it. It’s sad I couldn’t be there. But the film has already been to 50 festivals and won 14 international awards.”
The Silent Film Festival at Irvine, California celebrates and honors independent cinema.
Panda sees the film’s latest triumph at the Silent Film festival as a victory for independent cinema. “No one thought it was possible for me to see I Am Kalam to completion. I had to sell our home to make the film. It was traumatic for my family. But finally it was worth it. Because it proves independent cinema has a future. In fact, independent cinema IS the future.”
