MUMBAI: Nokia Nseries announced a first of its kind Nokia Nseries Mobile Film Awards in association with Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International.

Aimed at unleashing the ‘movie maker in everyone’, the initiative is targeted at young, up-and-coming filmmakers in the country.

Nokia Nseries Mobile Film Awards invites aspiring participants above 18 years of age to shoot a mobile film using their mobile phones in categories of fiction and non-fiction. The films will be judged by a jury assembled by Whistling Woods International and Mediamatics. The best filmmaker will get an opportunity for a six-month ‘foundation course in film-making’ with Ghai at Whistling Woods International and produce his own film with the new Nokia N93i device.

Two runners up in the fiction and non-fiction categories will win a sponsored trip to Universal Studios – Hollywood and a Nokia N93i device each. 

Nokia India director, multimedia Vineet Taneja said, “We are glad to partner with Subhash Ghai and Whistling Woods for the Nokia Nseries Mobile Film Awards. ‘Movie making on-the-go’ presents a huge opportunity for the mobile industry. Mobile filming has a unique advantage of having the device in your hand, anywhere, anytime. Through this initiative, we will provide Indian movie buffs a chance to bring out the filmmaker in themselves and an opportunity to become India’s next Subhash Ghai.”

“The Nokia N93i is touted to set new benchmarks in mobile film making. With advanced functionalities such as DVD-quality movie recording, Wi-Fi and TV-Out function, it will prove to be a serious alternate to handy cams, traditional digital and movie cameras. It will be our constant endeavor to provide smart imaging devices that make filmmaking accessible and convenient to everyone,” he added.

Presenting Mobile Film Awards with Nokia Nseries, Ghai said, “A mobile device is like a companion that accompanies you wherever you go. They trigger spontaneity and are a powerful medium of capturing and portraying human expressions. I want to congratulate Nokia Nseries for joining Whistling Woods International in creating an excellent platform that encourages and promotes up-coming talent in India.”

Entry forms can be downloaded from www.nokia.co.in/nseries or www.whistlingwoods.net. The final film and the original footage have to be burnt on a VCD/DVD and mailed to Nokia N-Series Mobile Film Awards 2007, 1005, Edenwood Tower, Shastri Nagar, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri (W), Mumbai 400 053.

The contest starts on 18 February, 2007 and ends on 12 March, 2007. The Award ceremony will be held sometime in April 2007.