I forgot that I had submitted the film for National Awards: Director Dinesh Shenoy

Director Dinesh Shenoy talks about winning the National Film Award for his debut non-feature film Madhyantara

Kannada film industry shone at the 70th National Film Awards, with honours across categories. From feature films to documentaries and even non-feature films found a spot at the awards this year. Director Dinesh Shenoy’s film, Madhyantara (2022), received two honors - Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director and Best Editing in a Non-Feature Film. The Kannada short film follows the story of two young boys in a small village in Karnataka, embarking on a journey from being film buffs to turning into filmmakers themselves.

Director Dinesh Shenoy on the sets of National Award-winning film Madhyantara

Shenoy, who hails from Mangalore and is based out of Bengaluru, shares, “I never expected to win this award. In fact, I had submitted it for consideration and even forgot about it. On the day, I received the news about the Best Editing awards and instantly called my editor, Suresh Urs, to congratulate him on the same. About 20 minutes later, he called me back to congratulate me and that’s when I found out about the second award for the film.”

Shenoy, who has worked in the film industry for 27 years, from being a light boy to being an independent cameraman and cinematographer, found himself stuck during the pandemic. “During the lockdown, I came across certain interviews on YouTube of people who worked in the film industry in the 70s and 80s. I got the idea for my film from there. You can say that the while the film is a short non-feature film, it is made as the act one of a feature film. The film was originally ideated as a feature film but I created this one as a pilot or proof of concept,” he shares on how the film came into being and adds, “I borrowed instances from the live of the interviewees I watched, as well as my own life. I, too, was a struggling filmmaker in the late 90s. Even though the film is based in the 70s, some elements of the struggle add up. The film is fictional but inspired by true events.”

Shenoy, who moved to Delhi around 27 years ago, shifted to Bengaluru for the film and finds himself here. The 56-year-old tells us, “I was constantly flying to Bengaluru for the film before I decided to just stay there and not go back to Delhi until I finish the film. The research on the film began in December 2020 but the shoot happened in March 2022. It was an 11-day shoot which was quite tough as we filmed in celluloid. We used a 16mm camera, which is tricky and tough to achieve.”

Ask Shenoy if there are more films in the works and he tells us, “I want to work on a lot of ideas but I want to finish this one first. My life is easier now when it comes to pitching films to producers as I have got the recognition too.”