Winners
Winner 2014
Chandrasekhar Reddy
Chandrasekhar Reddy, an Indian filmmaker, received the $10,000 award for his project Fireflies in the Abyss
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Even with the odds stacked against him, Suraj, an 11 year-old boy fights his way out of a life in the rat-hole coalmines, to put himself in school. The rat-hole mines in the Jaintia Hills (NorthEast India) are narrow strips of coal requiring children to descend steep, sheer chutes and burrow into narrow horizontal tunnels to scratch coal out of hard rock, armed with nothing more than a pickaxe and a head torch. In these hostile pits, everyday is a game of death.
With Sooraj’s story, Fireflies in the Abyss explores the precarious lives in the mines and the lives of several miners whose lives intertwine with his. Suraj dreams of going to school and despite the harsh conditions we witness, solidarity, humour and tenderness illuminate this moving film.
One was aware of the remarkable films and the passionate filmmakers that Foundation Alter-Ciné has supported though the years, and so it was a true privilege to be selected for the award. And the support, of course made it possible to bring the film to completion.
However, what has been overwhelming is, to know that it comes from people who seem to precisely understand the intentions and appreciate the reasons one has been laboring on the film all these years. Beyond the financial support, the tremendous belief and resources they have backed the film with has provided huge motivation to achieve the film one set out to make. I do sincerely wish that many more documentary filmmakers should continue to benefit from their extraordinary support in the coming years.
– Chandrasekhar Reddy